


MidSummer Night's Sweetness

by sunshinejade



Category: X1 (Korea Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Mutual Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-31
Updated: 2020-01-02
Packaged: 2021-02-27 03:41:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 23,989
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22050466
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sunshinejade/pseuds/sunshinejade
Summary: PROMPT 138Forever single Seungyoun, drama club's screenwriter, gets called out for not knowing how to write romance.Best friend hangyul thinks he's doing him a favor by offering to take him on clichè dates for the whole summer so he can get better.
Relationships: Cho Seungyeon | Seungyoun/Lee Hangyul
Comments: 11
Kudos: 85
Collections: Midnight Stories 2019 Fanfic Collection





	1. Plays, Dates and Play Dates

Hangyul watched as students flooded through the doors to enjoy lunch break out on the school grounds. He finished class earlier and he was glad for it, sort of.

Miss Park, his physics teacher, announced entering the class that they weren't going to do much because it was after all the last day of school and she understood the importance of summer break.   
She only dropped by to give them their summer assignments and to remind them of the importance of 'keeping their brains active and alive' even during the break, because in three months they'd be dealing with senior year. 

Everyone was too blinded by her beautiful face and lovely smile to notice she was giving them heaps of homework and only after she left did the groans of realisation started.

Hangyul quickly took out his phone to take a picture of the board, too lazy to write it down and sprinted towards the football field to enjoy the late spring air.

From his spot, he could easily see the rest of his class coming out of the awfully ventilated building.   
He checked his phone before taking out his lunch: 12.20.

He quickly texted his best friend, fully knowing that Seungyoun wasn't going to read it till 1 pm, to let him know where to find him.  
The seventeen-year-old scanned around, he found a spot that somehow managed to be shaded by a big, slender elm. 

To be honest, Hangyul couldn't really distinguish trees much, he just remembered this one cause it reminded him of Sesame Street.  
Hangyul chuckled to himself and sprawled as he could on the uncomfortable bleachers. He could stand up and find a better place on the grass, he thought for a moment, but he was enjoying the light breeze too much to bother about that.

He lost track of time, probably even dozed off a few minutes.  
He felt something, someone, blocking the shivery, gentle, ray of light peeking between the green leaves.

"HOW. DARE. YOU." 

Seungyoun was standing backlight and from where Hangyul was half lying, he appeared as a towering black silhouette.   
Hangyul groggily got up and frowned in confusion. 

"Not you, you," clarified Seungyoun, waving dismissively at Hangyul and sitting down. "A hypothetical you… Well, not really hypothetical." 

He added the last part mostly to himself. Hangyul raised an eyebrow wondering what that was about. 

His best friend sighed and looked at him straight in the eyes with a put off expression. "Mr. Lee." 

Hangyul scoffed louder than he initially meant to, a little unimpressed.  
"I thought you said he was the best teacher in our school, you literally lusted over him the past 3 years, what did he do now?"

"That man… That man" 

No amount of affection could stop Hangyul from thinking that Seungyoun looked a little constipated and Hangyul forced a frown on his face to keep from laughing at his dramatic pause.  
"… practically failed me!" He screamed throwing a file in the air.

Whether Seungyoun was being purposely overdramatic for fun or actually found what he was saying particularly upsetting, Hangyul wasn't really sure, but he couldn't contain the entertained smile that started creeping upon his lips.

Hangyul waited for his friend to elaborate in the grumpy voice he used whenever he got worked up negatively.

"He said my writing this year was really bad, not at all what he expected. Tell me is it my fault if he has high expectations? Tell me, is it?!" 

Hangyul rolled his eyes. The words he just heard were a confirmation of Seungyoun's flare for exaggerations. The drama club supervisor, _Lee Dong Wook_ , was not only one of the most attractive people Hangyul ever met but also one of the kindest and most soft-spoken. Not to mention Seungyoun was Dong Wook's favourite student so there was really no way it was true.  
  
"Is that really what he said?"

Seungyoun made a face at that. A pout painted his flawless skin and Hangyul's mind strayed for a second wondering if Seungyoun ever even feared acne or if it was a foreign concept to him.

"Well, he didn't really word it like that. He gave us mock reviews for the end of the year- Hey, give it back!"

Hearing 'mock reviews', Hangyul glanced instinctively at the papers he had just picked from the ground.   
He scanned the document twice to be certain and then lifted his head to look pointedly at his friend. 

"Since when is B+ considered 'practically failing'?"

Seungyoun looked at him with despair in his eyes, throwing his hands in the air.  
"B+, Gyul, B+! When was the last time I got a B+" 

Hangyul was about to reply teasingly but Seungyoun beat him to it. "In screenwriting, Hangyul."

Truth be told, it did sound a little below expectations for his standards.   
But that was only because Seungyoun knew what he was doing and was truly a talented writer.

"Tell me Hangyul, do you think my Halloween horror special deserves a B+? My family-friendly Christmas musical?" Seungyoun's voice grew more aggravated as he recalled his works over the year.  
Hangyul remembered both of them, he had been standing front row during both shows, next to Seungyoun's mom. "He gave you a B+ on those?"

Seungyoun looked a little relieved for a moment but it was quickly gone again.

"Well… not really, I did get an A+ on both."  
"Then how the hell did you get a B+ on the year mark?" He asked genuinely puzzled.  
His friend smiled sheepishly mouthing 'fourth row' and turned to stare at the pretty, light blue sky.

Hangyul's body cringed visibly, a small grimace surging from the pit of his stomach reading the title of the play.   
Even if his guts had told him otherwise, right from the start, a little part of him kept hoping that the downright failure of the Valentine Special had been due to really bad acting and not from a poorly written script. 

Seungyoun was looking at him with a small pout, so Hangyul tried to cover up his furrowed brows. "Tell me it wasn't so bad."  
"Well, come on a C- isn't so awful and people didn't insult you or anything. I'd say they even enjoyed it."

He said with a comforting smile only to be taken aback by the speed in which Seungyoun got up suddenly.

"Don't. No need to lie, it was awful and the parts that weren't awful were really cringey." He shook his head so violently that Hangyul almost feared for his neck. 

"Fuck, I have to do something about this. I can't write romance for shit Hangyul, what do I do?"   
Seungyoun groaned, his palms coming up to his stupid-looking rat bangs.   
Hangyul never thanked Yuvin enough for that stupid bet.

"Maybe try dating for a change." He said half-serious, half-jokingly.  
"Haha, very funny, bro. I'm serious. Mr. Lee wants us to write a script over summer and explicitly asked me to make mine a romantic one."

Seungyoun sat down with a grace that felt awfully out of character with his tone of voice. "How do you write good, believable romance, Gyul?" 

Hangyul burst out laughing, genuinely amused.   
"How would I know, you're the writer here, not me."  
"Well, you're the one that's always on a date with someone, not me." He said shaking his head in a manner that Hangyul reckoned was meant to be mocking.

"I don't feel like analysing my relationship with Chan nor Chaeyeon right now. And seriously that's two relationships. Don't talk as if I'm some sort of serial dater." He said scoffing and rolling his eyes. 

Seungyoun kept on grumbling something about having to find himself a boyfriend, but mostly to himself and finally focused on taking out his lunch.

They munched amicably on their food, talking about this and that and it was as if Seungyoun had forgotten all about the mock review, but Hangyul could see his friend glancing down on his papers with disappointment in his eyes.

***

  
The break was over rather quickly and before he knew it, so was the rest of the day. 

"And nothing… I'll probably be out most of the summer. My aunt keeps complaining that I never visit so now my mom is forcing all the family to join my aunt and cousins over the break."

Hangyul groaned, lifting his backpack from the ground and rolling his eyes at Wooseok.

"Yeah, it must be so _hard_ being you!" Jinhyuk exclaimed, placing a hand on his small friend's arm.  
"I mean, I would just _hang myself_ if I had to spend the summer travelling across the Cote d'Azur with my billionaire family." 

"Oh really, I should have known you'd _hate_ the idea." Replied Wooseok glaring, his tone cruelly sweet.  
"I even told my mom, but she kept insisting I invite you. Guess I'll just go ask Xiao."

Hangyul waved at Wooseok who coolly nodded them goodbye and left.  
He stayed back to wait for Seungyoun and watched as Jinhyuk called in frenzy panic after his best friend.

"Well, looks like the tsundere are gonna spend the summer getting chummy on the other part of the world, huh?" Seungyoun casually said hi to everyone he knew as they passed the hallways.   
"What do you mean?" Hangyul shifted his head to the right, lost on what his friend meant.

"Well, you know - Ooh, yeah. See you at Byungchan's" He said not really paying attention at who was even wishing him a nice holiday.  
"Summer, the heat, the sea, spending lots of time just the two of them? A sunset walk at the seafront that sounds a lot like a date?"  
"Nah, I really don't know." Said Hangyul shrugging.

Seungyoun stopped dead in his tracks.  
"Come on, you can't be serious. I'm the one who's supposedly bad at the whole romance thingy."

"Yeah, that's why you still believe all the bullshit dramas and movies feed you. Real-life doesn't work like that, Younie." Hangyul sighed. 

It wasn't as if he was a cynical bitch, quite the opposite. He believed in the idea of a love that makes you better, he always tried to be the perfect boyfriend and he liked old fashioned romantic dates. Still, sometimes, Seungyoun's ideas of love and dating were much too straight out of a teen-drama movie. 

"The setting and scenarios are useless if you're with someone you don't see that way. And Jinhyuk and Wooseok have known each other for years." Hangyul spoke with complete frankness.

"If Wooseok didn't fall in love with Jinhyuk after last year's talent show I doubt he magically will now. Trust me, they won't get together." 

_'I like That' Jinhyuk was a superior Jinhyuk._ He thought, spying the older boy a few feet away, talking to a Kookheon.

"Yes. They. Will. They will go to dinner in a fancy French restaurant and eat expensive French stuff like _ravioli_ or something and then drink wine and kiss under the moonlight and fall in love. I just know it!" Seungyoun was rushing his words towards the end, finishing it off with a deep groan.

"First, ravioli is Italian. Second, what's with the tone? Don't tell me you're jealous."  
Hangyul took a sharp turn to look at his best friend.

When the other didn't rise hie eyes from the ground, he crossed his arms over his chest and leaned on the bus stop pole.

"Well maybe a little, I guess." 

Seungyoun looked like a little kid who just got scolded by his mom and as cute as he looked, Hangyul also felt a little upset hearing him talk like that.

"Seungyounie…" he started tentatively, "I thought we were over that. I thought _you_ were over that. You still have a crush on Jinhyuk?"

Seungyoun had a habit of moving unpredictably, one moment relaxed and languid, the moment after quick and abrupt movements.   
Hangyul lost count of the times he got lowkey scared of the way he would snap his head in his direction.

"What?! No, not jealous in _that sense._ " He said hurriedly,  
"I just… I wanna live that too, I guess. Cute dates and all that. Someone to fall in love with."

Without meaning to - he knew how important a subject dating was to Seungyoun - he looked pointedly at his friend, raising an eyebrow.

Seungyoun rolled his eyes a little. "Okay, maybe not fall in love, but still. I want a summer romance. It's would be helpful with my writing, too." He said clearly trying to cover up how much he simply wanted a boyfriend.

"Seungyoun… They're not gonna fall in love, okay. They're best friends, cute dates aren't going to change that. And If you want inspiration just ask Eunsang. I saw him at the mall with a guy last Thursday, I swear your brother is better than you at this and his fifteen."

"Ha, jokes on you. Eunsang was out with Minhee, his _best friend_. And the fact that you thought he was on a date further proves my idea that Jinhyuk and Wooseok will get together which is proof of the fact that _yeah, cute dates can make bros fall in love,_ okay?" poked Hangyul on the chest.   
"So find me a bro, Hangyul."

Seungyoun was saying all that with a calm tone and a confident face as he sat down at the very back of the bus.  
"Also, if it was that simple I'd just watch movies. But I can't seem to work like that."

Hangyul patted comfortingly Seungyoun's thigh. 

This inspiration-less idiot was stressing over homework far too early in their summer break.

"The pacing, the scenarios, the dialogues. I can't just creepily ask Eunsang to tell me what he does and says when he's with Minhee, it's not like I know if he actually likes him like that. I don't even know if Eunsang actually _likes boys_ like that!" He said with an exasperated chuckle.  
  
"So now you gotta find me someone to take me on cute dates. It's your additional homework for the summer. I need this script to be legendary."

Hangyul stayed silent for some time. 

He almost offered to talk about his old dates with his past lovers.   
How he and Chan would spend half of their time dancing instead of going on actual dates, but his boyfriend would still try his best to take him in cute cafes and have study afternoons holding hands under the table.  
  
Or how he used to think, still thought actually, that Chaeyeon looked effortlessly beautiful, but looked even better blushing after missing completely the ball the whole night, that one time at the minigolf.

But he didn't. 

For some reason, it felt so weird talking to Seungyoun about all that.  
Not to mention it had been so long since his last date. So he wasn't sure how much of what he would have said was real and how much was tainted pink by his fond, fun memories.

_I kinda miss it. The dates even more than having someone. I liked having an excuse to do all those things._

The hint of an idea started swimming in his brain.

"I'll do it. I'll take you on cute dates and all that. Whatever your relationship-deprived imagination expects dating to be, I'll do it." He said it softly at first, staring at Seungyoun for a few seconds until he decided that he sincerely liked that plan.

"This way you can live your romantic dream slash inspiration for your play and I can prove to you that cute dates, no matter how romantic, aren't enough to make people fall in love." Hangyul nodded proudly at himself. 

"It'll be fun having a reason to do all those things again. And I get to prove you wrong, too. A win for you and a _double_ win for me." He exclaimed smirking.

Seungyoun's face frowned puzzled, yet at the same time as a smile started breaking on his face.   
"What if you're wrong and I'm right though?"

"What? You think you'll fall in love with me?" Hangyul winked playfully at Seungyoun, obnoxiously flipping his nonexistent long hair.   
"I mean, I'd understand. I am that charming…"

"What if you end up falling in love with me?" Laughed back Seungyoun. 

They both missed the small spark of subconscious hope in the older boy's eyes.

_"Pfft, keep dreaming Cho Seungyoun."_


	2. First Dates, Hearts Fluttering and Thoughtful Gifts

  
"Hyung, I love you and your closet looks awesome. But it doesn't look like first date material. I mean you go from underground rapper to fashion week model with no in-between. Don't you have something normal?"

Minhee looked through Seungyoun's closet twice throwing questions left unanswered on the elder's part.  
Eunsang just kept taking stuff out shaking his head and sometimes glancing at his brother somewhere between amused and worried.

Seungyoun stared at his phone blinking stupidly at the screen.

_[ Yesterday ]_

  
_[ Hey youn, for that date we talked about_

_going down by the lake rn ,, should drive back tomorrow morning_

_tomorrow night sounds good?_

_yeah sure ]_

_[ 9:28 am ]_

_[ about later, ill come pick you up at 7-ish? ]_

  
Seungyoun frowned at the time.  
_6:03 pm._

After the end of school, neither Hangyul nor him brought up the proposition.   
And so the latter thought his friend wasn't really serious about it. 

Yet here he was, trying to decide what to wear on his first date and asking two fifteen-year-old for advice.

"So… hyung. Let me ask you again. You and Hangyul hyung are dating now?" Asked Eunsang giving up on finding the perfect outfit.

"Pfft, like that would ever happen." 

Seungyoun stared back as his brother's eyes analysed his face in confusion.  
"But he's taking you out? On a date?" Seungyoun nodded slowly.

"Why?" Eunsang tilted his chin to the right, forehead scrunched up genuinely perplexed.

"Hangyul sunbae, ever the most wonderful senior we have in the school, offered to take Seungyoun hyung out because your brother has no experience whatsoever when it comes to dating. That's why his valentine skit sucked. Were you even listening, Eunsang?"

Seungyoun winced at the shameless jab to his script and raised an eyebrow at the dreamy sigh Minhee let out.

He laughed at his antics and smiled approvingly as the tall boy fished out of a pair of shorts and a white and turquoise long-sleeve shirt from his closet.

"But if you're still just friends and he doesn't like you like that and you don't like him like that, how is it supposed to be helpful?"

Seungyoun frowned at that.   
Eunsang had a point but still, it seemed like it made sense back when Hangyul offered.

"I dunno. Gyul says it might help me understand how to write believable scenes, regardless. Also, he wants to prove Jinhyuk and Wooseok won't fall in love."

"What does that even have-" Eunsang didn't manage to finish the sentence.  
"- To do with them?" finished Minhee knowingly. 

"Wooseok sunbae invited Jinhyuk sunbae to spend the summer with him. Hyung thinks they'll come back as something more than friends while Hangyul sunbae thinks nothing will happen because they're just friends. _Fill in the blanks_ , Eunsang!" 

Minhee had a devilish glint in his eyes and a knowing smile. 

"Personally, I'm with Seungyoun hyung on this one." He added with an unnecessary conspiratorial whisper.

"And how do you know all that, kid?" Asked Seungyoun.

The fifteen-year-old merely shrugged, turning back to the closet.

"Pyo, of course. And Jinwoo was this close from printing wedding invitations for his favorite hyungs at lunch the other day."

***

Getting ready, Seungyoun found himself tingling weirdly around his chest if he thought too much about what was planned. 

Stepping out of the shower though, he felt a sense of calmness settle on his chest. 

This was his best friend they were talking about.   
Just plain, old _Hangyul_.  
His Hangyullie he could trust and could be comfortable around.  
  
The doorbell rang at 7.12 pm.   
He stilled his movements for a moment, wondering if his parents were having guests. 

Seungyoun slowly opened the door of his room to listen.  
At first, he thought he heard wrong until his mom yelled for him from the bottom of the stairs.

"Darling! Hangyul is here for you!" 

Seungyoun tried to put on his shoes as fast as he could, a little taken aback. 

_Hangyul?_   
_Hangyul doesn't ring, he just texts and waits outside. And if he rings, it's because he's staying for dinner or for a sleepover and just barges in my room uninvited._

He closed his laptop, hastily took his things and rushed to the stairs a little on edge.

The sight that welcomed Seungyoun was so apparently normal and yet completely different from usual making his skin tingle and his heart feel equal parts of uneasiness and comfort. 

His parents were amicably talking with his best friend.

"- down near the old cornfields. A few minutes walk and we'll be there. Plus half of the town is going there, it shouldn't be dangerous for us to go."

"Well, I trust both of you. Mostly you, if I gotta be honest. Seungyoun lives in his own head at times. But I'm sure he'll be fine with you. Just don't be too late, understood?"

"Oh, love. The boys are responsible, they will be okay. Plus our Hangyul here has been working out, I'm sure no one will be looking for trouble. _And_ …"

"… and we'll be back before 1 a.m., sir."

His mom was fixing a vase at the entrance beaming at the yellow and orange marigolds in her hands. His dad was patting Hangyul's back with a good-natured smile.  
To the side, leaning on the doorway to the living room stood Eunsang clutching a bag of candies, smirking at the scene with Minhee peaking over his shoulder and staring at Hangyul.

"Hey, you're here!" His best friend was the first to notice him descending.   
His voice, still husky and deep as usual, wasn't laced with the usual joking tone, but with something Seungyoun couldn't quite place. 

_Excitement, maybe and just a tinge of nervousness. Or maybe I'm simply projecting._

Somewhere in his mind, he registered the fact that his tone when he answered back was strangely soft. 

Seungyoun knew he was staring at Hangyul, but he was too absorbed in himself to stop.  
He never really paid much attention to things like that. To _Hangyul_.

But now, clad in his light coloured jeans and simple t-shirt Hangyul was truly a sight to behold.   
And the fact that he was wearing exactly what he wore on a regular just proved that his best friend was as naturally handsome as he was nice. 

Seungyoun smiled to himself, proudly almost. 

No wonder he's popular.   
That's my Hangyullie.

"Well, I guess we'll get going now if you don't mind." Hangyul addressed his parents with more reverence than usual, counting they've known him since he was a child and frequently professed how much they liked him. 

"Of course, off you go boys. Have fun on your date."

Seungyoun tried his hardest not to blush and failed.   
The amount of emphasis his mom put in the word ' _date_ ' was downright mortifying.

Although he had explained to them what the circumstances of the date were, his mom had questioned it four times hoping to hear a sudden confession about how he and Hangyul had developed feelings overnight. 

She had the tendency to say she wanted her son to find someone lovely and loving.  
And to her, Hangyul was as lovely and loving as they came.

He was still deep in thought when he noticed they weren't going towards Hangyul's car. 

"Wait, you're not going to drive?" Seungyoun looked around in confusion.

Hangyul laughed at him, sneaking looks every few seconds with a happy smile on his face.  
"Finally decided to get out of your head and join me, huh?" 

The setting sun was painting Hangyul in soft shades, from the golden-brown locks of his hair, down to the pure-white tee, to the light blue jeans. 

Seungyoun stopped looking around, feeling a little embarrassed.  
"And no, we're not taking the car. We'll be going on foot."  
"Oh, yeah. That was what you were talking about to my parents right?" he said recalling the bit of conversation he overheard.  
"Yeah." 

Seungyoun decided that confusion was going to be the feeling of the night, not recalling anything interesting in the part of town where they were headed.

"Where are we going to anyways?"  
"The Summer Funfair at the old farm," Hangyul replied with an authentic smile.

Every year there was a small yet very cute funfair to celebrate the beginning of summer happening somewhere different in town each time. 

Hangyul and Seungyoun never missed one in the past 6 years.

"We always go together anyway, how is this a _date_?" he complained.   
Seungyoun himself wasn't sure what he was hoping for. Definitely not the usual bro-hangout.

"Hey, Cho Seungyoun. Don't you trust me?" said Hangyul nudging his elbow lightly, his eyes shining softly under the peach coloured sky.

"Dating is not about what you do, or at least not just. It's about who you do it with, what they say to you and how they treat you. That's why I say settings don't make people fall in love. People make people fall in love." 

He took a few steps faster to surpass Seungyoun and turned to walk backward and kept going while looking back at Seungyoun.

"And to prove it I'll treat you as if it was a date, and it won't change anything because you're you and I'm me and we could hold hands right now at it wouldn't change the fact that we're us. Just friends."

Hangyul reached out for his hand and didn't put it down until Seungyoun laughingly shooed it away.

Hangyul chuckled to himself, his steps falling back to match Seungyoun's pace.   
"Well, I can understand if you don't want to. Holding hands at the first date sounds frisky…" He said wiggling his eyebrows.

Seungyoun and Hangyul talked about the usual things on their way to the fair.   
Like how Hangyul was taking care of the last few things to complete the renovation of their house by the lake.  
 _\- 'It's coming out nicely, I can't wait to go there in July when it's done' -_

Or how Minhee had an obvious crush on him.  
 _\- 'You should have heard him! Do me a favor and talk to him, I wanna see him short-circuiting'-_

When the old farm came into view it was as if a wave of excitement passed Hangyul's body and Seungyoun felt a warm, soft palm close around his wrist and dragged him to the entrance.

They stopped right under a large wicker arch.

"So" sighed Seungyoun, a little more breathless than he expected. "What would you do if this was a real date? What would you do to woo me?"

Hangyul hooked his arm over Seungyoun's and lead him to the ticket office.

"First, from this moment forward you're gonna address this as what it is: _a real date._ Second, I can't tell you my woo-ing strategies just like that." Hangyul gently smiled at the old lady, paying for both of them before Seungyoun could even take out his wallet.

"Third, stop overanalyzing, okay?" he said taking both his hands and looking at him straight in the eyes. "You've been lowkey tense all the way here, I'm starting to think this is too strange for you." 

Seungyoun felt Hangyul squeeze his hands a little tighter before letting go and skipping off towards the stands.

"It's me, I'm taking you on a date. And the best way to understand how it should feel is " _less theory, more experience_ ". Try and live it as it comes, understood?" 

When he turned to look behind him, Hangyul appeared as a holy vision.  
The sun, now closer to the horizon, painted the sky in the background a beautiful, deep orange. That, added to Hangyul's excited smile, composed one of the most heart-fluttering scenes Seungyoun had ever seen.

Right there, something in him should have started to wave a red flag. 

This thing, this tingling inside of him, was solely due to the concept of a 'date' and he was never, ever supposed to confuse it with anything more.

_Of course, I know that already. I can't catch feelings for Hangyul, to begin with. It's not humanly possible for me._

His own brain seemed to not consider that logically, he couldn't believe that cute dates made people fall in love and also believe that this thing he was doing wasn't going to mean trouble for him and Hangyul.

During the night, Seungyoun ignored the little voice in his brain that kept telling him to stop staring at Hangyul's smile. He ignored the way his chest tightened when Hangyul laughed at him missing the tin cans or the way his head felt lighter every time someone from the personnel of the fair referred to them as boyfriends.

At the same time though, he ignored the voice that kept repeating the words 'fake date'. He ignored the words 'best friends' and the way Mrs. Shin asked him when he was going to show up at the fair with a date and not with his buddy.

He ignored everything that wasn't Hangyul, the happiness that was invading his body and the feeling of giddiness every time they laughed in sync.

Before he knew it, they were strolling back to Seungyoun's house.  
It was half-past midnight and the fair was still bubbling with people.  
Seungyoun had tried to talk Hangyul into staying a little longer but to no use.

_'I can't break the promise I made your parents. Not on the first date, it would be impossibly rude.' he said with a solemn face._

The lampposts radiated a dimmed, yellow light but the breeze and the lingering smiles on both their faces helped to counter the eerie night street.

Seungyoun could still feel his skin heated and worked up in the excitement and just a little bit from noticing how Hangyul seemed to sneak little peeps at him as they walked.

"How are you feeling, huh?"  
Turning to Hangyul, Seungyoun saw his friend smiling to himself facing the asphalt. "You look happy," he added.  
"I am," replied Seungyoun very simply. Very genuinely.  
"Good, I'm happy too." The older wondered if they always walked this close. 

How many times had their hands brushed against each other in the past ten years? And why did it seem so important now?   
"It's been a minute since I last went to a photo booth." 

Seungyoun fished out of his pocket the cute, silly pictures they took before leaving. 

_These are going on my dashboard, right next to the picture us trick or treating._

"Hell, if I'm honest I kinda missed having someone to shower with attention too." Hangyul chuckled softly to himself.

Seungyoun chuckled as well, his ears never stopped itching sweetly from all the compliments and attention he received during the night.   
"Yeah, I noticed." He said waving at his the stuffed animal the younger won for him.

Hangyul passed a hand through his hair with an embarrassed grin Seungyoun knew too well.   
"Sor-"  
"Don't. I liked it," he said sweetly. It was the truth after all.  
"Most of the time, you take pleasure from being a pain in the ass." He added with a playful voice.

For a few seconds, as they both took in a gust of fresh wind, they walked so close he was sure Hangyul could feel the goosebumps on his skin through their clothes. 

When Hangyul's fingers moved lightly, grazing the back of his hand, he ignored the slight disappointment when the other shoved his hands in his jeans pockets.

They both seemed to slow down naturally the closer they got to Seungyoun's house until they were walking up the front steps.

Hangyul took out his phone and showed him the time with a silly smile.

"Ten minutes till 1. No wonder your dad loves me."  
Seungyoun smiled warmly at him, his eyes subconsciously stopping to appreciate the crease of Hangyul's double eyelids.

They stayed like that for a second too long and Seungyoun seemed to realise suddenly that he was supposed to get inside.  
  
He shrugged in what he hoped was a natural way, coughing a little.

"So reviews for the night?" His friend asked him. 

There was a slight switch in his tone and Seungyoun almost frowned thinking about how he was back to being regular Gyul and not _date Hangyul_.

Seungyoun straightened his back and peered into the darkness, trying to be analytic about the date.

"Hmmm. It was very fun and you were very gentlemanly." He said nodding, his eyes going from staring at nothing to Hangyul. 

"You treated me well, you didn't make me uncomfortable and every now and then I almost thought you were seriously hitting on me."   
Hangyul gave him a teasing wink as he nodded along.  
"Hadn't it been you, I'd say it was really romantic too." 

Hangyul smirked and Seungyoun was torn between smiling at the legitimately attractive, familiar sight and groaning at the mistake he just made.

"Did I hear that right, Cho Seungyoun?" He said cupping a hand to his ear.  
_"Hadn't it been you?"_

Seungyoun rolled his eyes. 

"See you didn't magically fall in love with me." Hangyul raised his eyebrows to emphasize his point, before stopping to look at him intently. "Unless.."

"Okay shut up idiot." He replied giving his friend a soft punch on the arm.   
"Fine I admit it you were right, but still. Wooseok and Jinhyuk will get together." He insisted rolling his eyes.

"Well even if I'm right and it wasn't really a romantic date, I gotta say it was a nice night." Agreed Hangyul after a while.  
"Think you'll be able to write something?"

"Mmm I don't know, I'll try. I have a few ideas… I just need to add a few feelings into what we did today, cut out some of your dad jokes and maybe add some pining or staring. It should be a nice enough start, right?" 

Seungyoun faced the door, trying to open the lock, tucking the stuffed tiger doll under his arm.

Hangyul took a quick step towards him, stopping him from opening the door.

"By the way, before you go. I've got something else for you"

Seungyoun watched as the younger fished something small from his pocket and reached to grab his hand.   
It took him a few seconds to understand that Hangyul was tying something around his wrist.

"I found it in the old lake house. I thought you'd want to have it."

Seungyoun raised his hand to get a better look.  
It was an old beaded bracelet. The small spheres were faded, but the leather string appeared as good as new. 

"I can't believe you kept them," he whispered in awe.   
"Found them in an old box. Took a little to remember the order and to find all the beads, but hey..."   
Hanyul raised his hand to show him a second bracelet just like his.

"Thank you." He said, hoping his eyes conveyed just how much he appreciated it.

Hangyul shrugged with a small smile.  
"What kind of guy doesn't bring something to impress his date on a first date?"

Seungyoun stared at his friend's relaxed features.  
Realizing something a part of him already knew, more than a little touched.

"You gave my mom flowers." Hangyul smile shone a little brighter.   
"And candies to Eunsang." Hangyul gave one single nod before shrugging. "You didn't have to."

Hangyul opened the door for him, stepping out of the way.  
"I know, but I wanted to." 

He took out his phone to show him the time again.  
It was precisely 1 am. 

"If this works and you actually manage to write something, tell me. So I can plan the next dates."

Hangyul softly placed his hands over Seungyoun's shoulders to direct him inside.

"W-Wait. What you mean with the next dates?" He asked frowning in surprise.  
"Well this one went well and summer is long. Since we both agree this is nice and helpful, I'm cool with fake dating till you're done with the play." 

Hangyul sometimes said things with such carefreeness Seungyoun wasn't sure if he was serious. This was one of those times.  
"I- Are you--?" Seungyoun didn't have the time to fully process everything.

"See you. I'll text you for that soccer game with Sunho hyung and Beak Jin," he said before jogging away happily.

Seungyoun shook his head, the night coming back to his memory in happy, bright, and fluttering flashes.   
It felt strange.

 _'But it's because of Hangyul and he's my best friend, so it's good, right?'_ he thought going up the stairs.  
'Yeah, a good kind of strange.'

  
When Hangyul texted for that soccer game, it was 1 pm.

Seungyoun was still sleeping and there was a draft of a play on his laptop.


	3. Baseball Games, Car Rides and Plans Over Dinner

"H-hey. I, hmm... Well. I-- Uhm, I know you don't really know me, but yeah" 

Hangyul tried not to chuckle at the sight of the skinny, platinum blond boy blushing in front of him.   
"I'm Minhee and well I'm here 'cause I'm sleeping with Eunsang."

Hangyul promptly elbowed his best friends for sniggering at the mistake and smiled kindly at the boy.   
From the corner of his eye, he watched as Seungyoun silently laughed to himself as he stepped out of the room.

"Wait, what? No. I'm not sleeping _with_ Eunsang. I meant to say I'm sleeping over. But well, I'm sure you don't really need to know that." 

Minhee, the guy he remembered seeing around with Seungyoun's brother, looked like he wanted to dig himself a grave. He gave a panicked look to the stairs where Eunsang was prodding him to continue.

"Hey, _breathe_. Whatever it is, you can tell me. I'm Hangyul, you can call me hyung." He said getting up from the couch.

Apparently, what he said just made the boy blush harder and laugh awkwardly.

"Uhm, yeah no. I think I'm okay with sunbae." 

Hangyul muttered a _"Whatever suits you better"_ that went completely above the boy's head as he said in a rush:  
"WELL, I HAVE A GAME THIS WEEKEND AND IT WOULD MEAN A LOT TO ME IF YOU CAME TO SEE ME." 

This time the older boy didn't stop the smile forming on his lips.   
It was a really endearing sight honestly and, seeing the little spark of both affection and hurt Eunsang was sending their way from the stairs, he couldn't help but want to adopt both of them.

"Of course I would love to come!" He said, patting him on the shoulder.   
"I love baseball and I remember Eunsang mentioning you're the best in school." Minhee's eyes flickered to the stairs with a loving expression.

 _I wonder when they'll start seeing it._ He thought. _All in due time, I suppose._

"Plus Seungyoun keeps insisting to be the one to choose the next date and won't let me take him anywhere. This way we can have a nice day out." 

Hangyul watched, feeling a little sorry, as confused disappointment passed through Minhee's eyes, but in the end, the boy nodded brightly.   
"Well, yeah. Thanks sunbae."

Hangyul went back to sit on the couch, lazily taking the controller in his hands to set up the game Seungyoun kept bugging him about and waited patiently.

When the latter finally emerged from the kitchen, juice, and bowl of dried fruits in hand, Hangyul promptly looked at the screen pretending not to have been staring at his wrist, deep in thought.

"Okay, so I know you're more of a salty snack kind of person. But mom is forcing us on this healthy diet or something so you'll have to deal with it too." 

His best friend put the bowl and bottle next to Hangyul and started moving around the living room trying to find where he left his controller. 

Hangyul noticed how colorful Seungyoun's bead bracelet seemed against his milky wrist, while the tones always seemed more earthy and dark against his own.

As Seungyoun sat down next to him, his heart started beating fast in his chest. Luckily Seungyoun didn't notice, of course.

"Okay, found it. We can start playing now."

 _Seungyoun never really notices anything,_ he thought in that tone that was halfway between amused and frustrated.

Hangyul spent half the time of the game lost in his own thoughts. Thoughts that honestly were getting more and more recurrent. Thoughts that sometimes scared him and made him want to go back home and were a clown costume.

Something passed outside, a car or maybe the neighbor opening the window.   
Anyways, a sudden flash of light made Hangyul look away from the screen giving Seungyoun a shot at winning.

Hangyul, never very competitive, just laughed when Seungyoun started doing a silly, mocking dance in front of him. 

In moments like this, Hangyul didn't really know what to think.

_Was the swelling in his heart due to Seungyoun being his bestest, most reliable and wonderful friend or was there something else?_

It was a doubt that sometimes ran through his head since that one time in middle school Hangyul was upset that no girl had asked him out for the Sadie Hawkins dance.   
Seungyoun showed up the night of the party with a pink wig on and his cousin's dress.   
For the last four years whenever that question arose he answered the same way.

_Seungyoun is my best friend. He's family and sure he's amazing but there's no way in heaven or hell that my feelings for him will ever go beyond that. I mean, imagine kissing Seungyoun… Disgusting._

But as June came to an end and July brought heat and endless days hanging out, Hangyul's mind started to respond differently. Not that he liked- _l_ _iked_ Seungyoun, but now he found himself wondering more frequently and repeat those words in his head with less confidence.

He had thought, that one night at the fair, that things weren't going to change.

Sure, the date had been nice and he did feel the impulse several times to just reach out and hold Seungyoun's hand.   
Still, he had talked himself into believing that the restlessness he felt going to sleep that time was due to the rush and giddiness of going out.   
Not going out _with Seungyoun_. 

The day after, when they took a break to dry their sweat and to tease Baek Jin for being so whipped for his girlfriend, Seungyoun thanked him again and mentioned how he did write a little bit after he got back home.

Hangyul immediately felt the need to offer himself up for another date.  
Less the four days after they went biking.

As he sat down on his dad's picnic blanket and Seungyoun took out the food Hangyul had spent the morning cooking, he pretended not to be fazed by the voice in his brain recalling all the stories about that exact blanket.  
How it was at a picnic that his dad realized how much he truly loved Hangyul's mom.

That day Seungyoun read to him some of his poems, laying down and leaning on his forearms.  
Hangyul caught himself just in time to stop himself from stretching out his arm to caress his sun-kissed skin.

But other than that almost-slip-up the day was relatively chill, so when Seungyoun asked him where they were going next Hangyul just pushed down the warmth he felt and winked playfully.

And as soon as the weekend rolled in, Hangyul pulled up in Seungyoun's driveway and watched as excitement filled Seungyoun on the way.  
It was fun and chaotic. 

Whatever it was that made Seungyoun so happy - _a part of him hoped it was being with him_ \- Hangyul prayed to the starts it never stopped. 

Seungyon spent the night laughing at nothing, trying to play catch going around in laps and bumping violently against Hangyul trying not to fall.

The younger was taken aback by his own feelings that by the end of the night he couldn't bring himself to lie.

He simply had to admit there was something breathtaking in watching Seungyoun's face flushed and exhilarated. Something fluttering in catching him by the waist to prevent him from face-planting on the floor. Something cringely romantic in the way they chased one another on the roller-skate track.

Hangyul was brought back to reality by the sound of laughter - _loud, genuine and a little obnoxious_ \- that he identified as Minhee.   
In perfect sync, he and his best-friend glanced up the stairs before focusing on the television screen once more.

"So by the way, what did Minhee want from you?" asked Seungyoun slowly, more preoccupied with the game than with the question.

"Nothing much," he said, a hint of amusement escaping his tone "just asked me if I wanted to come to watch his upcoming baseball game." 

"And you said?" Seungyoun asked with the same mirth.  
"Well, I said I'd come," 

Hangyul watched as his player fell down to the ground dead. "But I also implied I'd be coming as your date." 

"Harsh, man. You just broke that guy's heart." 

Seungyoun kept on playing as Hangyul put his controller on the couch and reached for the bowl of fruits.

"It's just a small crush, I don't want him to get his hopes up for nothing." He said munching on the food, watching his friend trying to survive.   
"Fair enough." 

Hangyul got up to close the curtains noticing how the sun seemed to bother Seungyoun's eyes. 

_It was a far too beautiful day to stay in, maybe he could manage to convince Dohyon to leave the house and go get an ice-cream._

"Do you know what time the game is?" he asked going back to the couch.  
"Afternoon, I suppose." 

Seungyoun let out a deep groan of frustration, throwing his controller on the couch next to Hangyul's.

"9 innings?" 

He looked at the screen to see one of the players do an emote over his friend's avatar body.

"Yeah, for high schoolers they take this very seriously too," he said with an earnest face.  
"So around 3 hours?" Hangyul thought out loud, doing the math in his head.   
"Yeah, why?"

Seungyoun jumped up from the couch and stretched his long limbs.

"Well, my dad's back from his business trip in Jeju and Dohyon got home two days ago from camp so we're having dinner together." He said taking the bowl of snacks and following the other to the kitchen.  
"Ooh, that music camp?" said Seungyoun taking out two glasses and starting to make smoothies.

"Nope, he's leaving in August for that. He was at an English speaking camp project?"   
His best friend raised an eyebrow, with a questioning look.

"I don't really know, Seungyoun." He admitted passing a hand through his hair.   
"I've stopped trying to understand what my genius brother does with his life years ago."

Hangyul watched in silence, knowing his voice would get covered by the sound of the mixer.

"By the way, unless you have something planned for after the game you should definitely come." He said as Seungyoun started pouring a thick, pinkish liquid in the glasses.  
"At your family dinner?" He asked without looking up.

Hangyul felt nervous for a second, afraid it might sound strange.   
It wouldn't have been the first time, but lately, everything about Seungyoun made him feel on edge and scared of rejection.

"Yeah, I'm sure my parents won't mind. Actually, I'm pretty sure they'll be thrilled to have you. And I did promise Dohyon I'd invite you over sometime this week. He said he missed you."

His shoulders didn't relax until Seungyoun slowly passed him his smoothie with a bright smile.   
"Sure thing."

***

_"Voulez-vous coucher avec moi, ce soir?_   
_Voulez-vous coucher avec moi?"_

Hangyul frowned deeply at the boys getting inside his car, buckling his belt.   
He tried to meet Seungyoun's eyes, truly bemused, but the latter simply shook his head snickering.

_"Gitchie, gitchie, ya-ya, da-da (da-da-da)_   
_Gitchie, gitchie, ya-ya, here (ooh, yeah, yeah)"_

Hangyul tried to ignore the voices coming from the back, still unsure whether to laugh or not.   
Aside from the fact that Hyungjun and Dongpyo were far too young to sing something like that, both their voices, although high, still weren't high enough to pull off the Christina Aguilera bits.

Starting the car, he leaned a little to his side to whisper to Seungyoun.  
"You think they know what that song is about?" he said stealing glances at his passengers.  
"Especially the french part?" 

He smiled at the judging face Eunsang was giving his friends.  
Seungyoun shrugged with a chuckle.   
"I hope not, but as much as I want Eunsang to stay a baby I wouldn't be surprised if he knew." He said before breaking out singing with Dongpyo and Hyungjun.

Hangyul and Eunsang shared a look through the rearview mirror and the older simply decided to let it go and focus on the road.

His ears rang with old-school pop music for the majority of the way, but sometime during the drive it stopped being confusing and he even joined every once in a while, not able to resist Seungyoun's insisting pouty face.

 _"Hyung, hyung, hyung!"_ Eunsang hit his brother on the shoulder as Hangyul was about to park.   
Together, the pair of siblings sat a bit straighter and started doing weird gestures with their left hand.   
After Hangyul successfully parked and started getting outside the car, the two noticed his confused expression. 

"I never told you?" asked Seungyoun and before he could continue, Eunsang explained bashfully.  
"When we were younger, sometimes dad let us sit shotgun and change gears for him."

Hangyul looked at his friend for confirmation.  
"We learned how they work pretty early on," he replied smiling.  
Hangyul opened his mouth to say something, though not sure what, but got cut off by two insisting voices.

"You three! Will you hurry up already?!"   
"Minhee is waiting!"

***

The game was surprisingly fast.   
Hangyul barely felt the three hours as they passed.  
It was entertaining and fun and not once has Hangyul felt the need to look at his phone.

The kids were eager to support their friend and Seungyoun was easy to excite. Hangyul on the other hand simply enjoyed sports.

Minhee was admittedly outstanding and every once in a while he'd turn to the stands, throwing knowing smirks and thumbs-up and pointing in their direction.  
 _Looks like he's got the makings of a champion, huh?_

The game ended earlier than expected and on their way out he actually met some friends, but Hangyul always made sure to keep track of where the kids were. 

They weren't easy to miss with the way Hyungjun kept miming the entire game and the proud aura physically palpable radiating from Eunsang.  
From across the hall, where the kids were waiting for Minhee to come out of the locker rooms, Hangyul made eye-contact with Seungyoun.

As clichè at he sounded, his world slowed down for a second as his friend smiled softly, tilting his head towards the blond kid that had joined them.

Hangyul muttered something unintelligible, excusing himself before leaving Yuri and Yeongsang.

Reaching the group, he found himself wrapping an arm across Seungyoun's shoulders and congratulated Minhee for the win.   
He missed the way Minhee's eyes flickered to the hand on Seungyoun's shoulder, too busy commenting on the game.  
Eunsang, quickly noticing his friend's mood, offered to buy Minhee and, begrudgingly so, his other two friends a meal out. 

Seungyoun frowned, asking the kids if they wanted a ride.   
Hangyul noticed with amusement how his voice was laced with worry and protectiveness towards the younger teens. It was nothing new, yet it felt far more adorable than usual.  
_Cute._

The drive to his house was charged with an indefinite feeling.   
It made his heartbeat irregular, unsure if to relax around the older or beat in a frenzy.

He tried to focus on the street, sometimes stealing glances as Seungyoun fiddled with the radio and hummed to the music filling the car.   
The silence, something he enjoyed easily with his best friend, now left him feeling nervous and something he wasn't used to feeling around Seungyoun: _shy, insecure._

He wondered if Seungyoun's relaxed body language meant that he still saw Hangyul the same way as always. 

_… We could hold hands right now as it wouldn't change the fact that we're us. Just friends …_

"We're here."

Seungyoun's voice came in a soft sigh and Hangyul nodded smiling, seeing his house become bigger and bigger as they reached their destination. 

Slowing down, he stopped the moment he was supposed to pull up and park the car. He looked to Seungyoun who looked eager to get out of the car.

"You can do it if you want." He said lifting his hand from the gear stick.   
"Really?" said Seungyoun with an incredulous, little giggle. 

Hangyul just shrugged, ignoring the way his chest seemed to fill with affection at the way his friend's eyes lit up like a little kid on Christmas.

Honestly, his right hand felt strange resting limply on his thigh.   
But the strangeness was worth seeing the glint in Seungyoun's eyes and the way his tongue peeked a little bit from his mouth in concentration.

***

"Hyung come with me!" Dohyon exclaimed excitedly.

Hangyul took the salad from his mother's hands as his dad smiled at his youngest son's exclamation.  
Dohyon _loved_ Seungyoun. 

Now, as the eldest boy asked with a genuine interest in the boy's plans for music camp, the boy kept insisting for him to join as well.

"Oh, applications are done. Plus, I'm sure your Seungyoun hyung has a lot of things to do already." Said Hangyul's dad with a teasing tone.

"Why does Hangyul" started Dohyon with a huff.

 _"Hangyul hyung."_ Reminded him three voices - Seungyoun, his mom and his dad - while Hangyul laughed, winking at him from the other side of the table.  
  
Dohyon rolled his eyes before continuing.  
"Why does _Hangyul hyung_ get to hog Seungyoun hyung's time while I can't?"

"Because I'm his best friend?" Said Hangyul with a perplexed face.

"It's okay, Dohyonie. We'll have a lot of time to hang out anyways," interjected Seungyoun. 

"No need to lie, hyung. We never had much time to hang out even before you guys started dating." Whined the thirteen-year-old.

Seungyoun laughed joyously while Hangyul choked on water.   
Coughing up a little, Hangyul looked up just in time to see his father looking pointedly between him and his best friend.

His mother simply giggled along, shrugging as if to say _'don't ask me'_ when her husband turned to her for an explanation.

"Did I miss anything while I was gone?" He said with a smirk.

Hangyul tried to think of something to say, but he felt strangely stiff and awkward trying to explain whatever was supposedly happening. 

"Oh hun, it's not how it sounds" laughed merrily his mom. "Tell him about your play, Seungyounie." 

Hangyul listened as his best friend explained how he had a really important assignment for the summer and how they had different ideas about friendship turning into love.

He hoped, with growing anguish, that his attempted smile didn't betray his bitterness in hearing the ease in Seungyoun's voice saying all that.

_Oh, how the tables had turned!_

Here he was, confused about where he stood with his best friend after days of saying dates couldn't change the brotherly nature of their bond; while Seungyoun had seemingly overcome his initial awkwardness and seemed pretty much unbothered.

_Was he the weird one? Was he strange for expecting something with the way they locked eyes sometimes or how they smiled at each other?_

Hangyul lost track of the conversation, too busy overthinking.

"Oh, that's actually a nice idea, Hangyul!" Said his dad.  
"Yeah, I'd be worried about the consequences if it wasn't you two." Added his mother.   
"Both boys can testify, Seungyoun. As much as I want you to be the one taking care of my son, I know by now that it's not meant to be." 

"It's a pity, though." Said his dad with a genuine pout.   
"I might have to deprive you of your inspiration for a week or so. Will that be bad for the progress of your play, Seungyoun?" he asked leaning forward.

The seventeen years old mirrored his body language, emitting a soft questioning noise. 

Hangyul's face lit up in understanding.   
He had completely forgotten that.

"We'll be gone for a while." Explained Mrs. Lee kindly   
"to the house by the lake. It's has been renovated recently and just on the other side of the lake there's a summer camp Hangyul used to go to when he was a kid."

Seungyoun nodded kindly. "Yeah, I remember that."

"The house looks great and I promised to some people I'd drop by to say hi and help, earlier this Spring," said Hangyul sheepishly. 

"Oh, if it's anything like the pictures you sent me, son, it's more than great." Beamed his dad, fidgeting with his phone.   
"Let me just find some pictures to show you."

" _Or_ …" shily offered Dohyon. "Seungyoun hyung could just tag along and see for himself?"

Hangyul choked on water for a second time, a small hopeful spark lighting up in his heart.


	4. Confusion, Lake Houses and Midnight Talks

Seungyoun stared at the notes in his palm.

With an unsure hand, he fished the phone out of his pocket and sighed.  
It opened instantly on a “notes” page.

He looked from one to the other, a smile forming as a natural reaction.   
There were five sections on both. One for each of their little harmless dates.  
Pages full of observations, feelings, and thoughts that ran through his mind as time went.  
The most recent ones covered, albeit intermittently, the past Wednesday.   
After a week of nagging, Seungyoun had finally managed to decide on what to do.

Frankly, he had known for a long time that, given the chance, he would have liked to go on an exhibition with Hangyul.

He had this way of being good at everything, especially if it required physical effort and for once Seungyoun wanted Hangyul to be a little in awe of him and not the other way around.   
  
_“Yeah, sure Seungyoun. No need to be sarcastic.” Hangyul said. “As if you didn’t notice the trail of amazement and praise you leave behind you.”_

Seungyoun almost stopped to call for a doctor in hearing the reply, feeling his heart clutch painful for a few minutes. A beautiful and warm and loving squeeze, but still so so painful.

_“If Dohyon was gay he’d probably have a crush on you. Hell, if we weren’t friends I’d probably have a crush on you.”_

Seungyoun groaned.   
There was a reason if, even if he knew about the photography gallery since early June, he still waited weeks to tell Hangyul about it.

_If we weren’t friends…_

He needed to slow things down. 

In the three weeks since the start of their arrangement, they had gone to five dates and still managed to see each other besides those. 

He got up from his chair and threw himself on his bed.

_Who had he been trying to fool? How did he even think of agreeing to this?_

Ideally, Hangyul’s offer wasn’t really that weird, nor dangerous. 

After all, Hangyul was _Hangyul_.   
Popular, kind and naturally flirty.   
Not to mention, he fit in that frustratingly mix between cute and hot.

Maybe his subconscious already knew.   
For what other reason would he want to undertake something that brought him so much … _Longing? Confusion? Self-doubt?_

Unfortunately, this little state of affairs seemed to affect only Seungyoun.   
Hangyul, aside from the times he specifically labeled as ‘dates’, still treated him the same.   
Called him ‘ _bro_ ’ or ‘ _man_ ’ or ‘ _stupid_ ’, made appreciations on how handsome Seungwoo was and teased him for having to turn to a friend and not having an actual boyfriend. 

He shouldn’t have said yes, since the very beginning.   
Of course Hangyul was serious when saying nothing between them would have changed. 

But for him? 

After all, he had said from day one that he believed certain settings would lead to certain feelings, so how could he let himself get hauled into this mess?  
Sure, the excuse of requiring inspiration could work, but if he squinted hard enough he could understand that even that didn’t actually make much sense. 

Not to mention, by now he had plenty of notes and material to perfect his piece without requiring going on additional dates. Far too many feelings that he didn’t really need to use his imagination to write.

So maybe he wanted this? He wanted to be cornered and face his underlying crush. He wanted to cherish these few opportunities as much as he could before having to accept that after the summer they’d go back to normal. 

Drag this on a little longer. 

Seungyoun yelled in his pillow until a bell went off on his phone notifying him it was time to pack.

  
***

“Are you sure this is all? This is surprisingly light, Youn.”

Seungyoun watched as his friend loaded his stuff in the car. 

“I think so?” he replied.

The older boy followed his friend, still in a trance due to the time.   
His backpack was heavy on his shoulders, his laptop inside of it seemingly burning a hole in his back through the material. He had almost ‘forgot’ to bring it along until Hangyul noticed it on his desk and reminded him he had a play to write.

“Good morning, hyung.” 

Dohyon appeared tired and sleepy and given Seungyoun knew the boy had a habit of going to sleep at dawn, it was actually quite surprising to even find him awake in the backseat. 

He got in silently, smiled back and let his head relax against the leather cushion, waiting as Hangyul checked the trunk.

Seungyoun didn’t realise he had fallen asleep until he gradually opened his eyes, the morning sun burning his face and the car slowing down to a stop.   
Dohyon sounded wide awake and lively laughing at something Hangyul was saying.

He looked to his left, turning cautiously and watched as the brown-haired boy unbuckled his seatbelt. The sun was shining over his tanned skin, painting it golden and warm.   
Seungyoun observed quietly, peeping under his semi-closed lids, his dangling earrings and that adorable little beauty-mark he had on his ear.

 _“Quiet Dohyon, you’ll wake Seungyoun,”_ said Hangyul.

Youn kept the act up until he was left alone in the car.  
He stretched, groaning softly and rubbed the sleep from his eyes, glad that Hangyul had been considerate enough to leave a window open to save him from the temperature.

He watched as the two brothers got out from the rest stop with snacks and drinks in hand, laughing hysterically at each other.

“Hey, you’re awake!”  
“Why, good morning sleeping beauty.”   
  
The two brothers spoke at the same time, opening the car doors and getting in.   
Seungyoun felt his cheeks heat up a little under Hangyul’s teasing gaze, trying not to shiver when their fingers brushed as he gave him his cup. 

The rest of the trip was nice and joyful, with music blasting through the speakers and Dohyon laughing and clapping in amusement. It was mostly him and Seungyoun, though, Hangyul preoccupied with driving through the twisting road. 

Somewhere along the exit of the highway and the start of the rough trail in the woods, Seungyoun’s hand found itself replacing Hangyul’s on the gear-stick, something that in the last week had become a habit.

If Hangyul minded, he didn’t show.

Seungyoun was rapping powerfully with Dohyon over the music when he felt a warm, rough hand over his and his mouth shut abruptly taken aback.

Hangyul’s hand tightened over his and maneuvered the stick to smoothly change gears a few times, clearly used to what he was doing to navigate the rocky track.   
Seungyoun’s head snapped to look at him.

Hangyul looked relaxed and at ease, bopping his head and not noticing how his best friend had stopped singing. 

When he turned to steal a glimpse at Seungyoun he frowned in confusion.   
Youn, usually trained in not getting caught staring at his friend, simply stilled, the tingling in his hand getting more and more intense as Hangyul showed no sign of lifting his palm up.

Gyul kept looking at Seungyoun every few seconds not getting what was happening, and Dohyon, still rapping some Epik High song ignored whatever was happening less than two meters from him.

Seungyoun’s hand tensed a little, bringing Hangyul’s attention to their joined hands on the gear-stick. When he finally lifted his hand, Seungyoun’s felt oddly cold.  
He coughed a little, placing his hand on his lap, caressing his skin and trying not to think about the way it felt.

_Did that count as holding hands? Probably not, but still, it made something in him go a little crazy._

Seungyoun slowly turned to look at Hangyul, starting from his right hand that had now taken place over the stick, up to the beaded-bracelet on his wrist and the green t-shirt he was wearing. 

Youn noticed with a small smile the way his neck was a deep shade of red and when his eyes finally reached the sharp jawline and up to his pretty double-eyelids, Hangyul turned to glance back at him. 

The moment their eyes met, they turned the other way, both uncharacteristically shy. 

Seungyoun fought down the little content smirk as he noticed how even Hangyul’s ears were getting a cute shade of red.

“Okay, fine! Let’s change the genre, I’m tired of singing on my own.” huffed Dohyon.  
Seungyoun gave out an uncomfortable laugh, looking at the boy from the rearview mirror.  
“Just turn off the radio, we’re here anyway,” said Hangyul softly. 

Seungyoun looked ahead as the trees made way to a wide, breathtaking view.   
The car pulled up in front of a two-storey house. The wooden bands of the facade shone brightly, giving off a welcoming vibe. 

The sounds of amazement left his mouth naturally as he looked around.   
He remained in a state of stupor as the Lee siblings stretched their legs and began taking out the bags from the truck. 

“It’s so…” he started, his voice just above a whisper.  
“ _Beautiful_.” finished for him Gyul.

Seungyoun turned to find Hangyul looking at him straight in the eyes.  
A peaceful, close-lipped smile on his face. 

They broke eye contact as Dohyon bellowed.

“Dad, Mom we’re here!” 

The entrance, opened widely to reveal Mr. and Mrs. Lee in casual attire and even more casual expressions, waving excitedly at them.   
Hangyul’s mom ran down the steps to engulf her eldest son in a bear-hug and cover his face in kisses.

“My beautiful, hardworking son!” she said brightly. “I love what you did with the house, it looks so so so pretty.”

Hangyul smiled and let his mother have her way, making Seungyoun’s heart flutter a little bit.   
_Hangyul is truly a filial son._ He thought.  
 _He never does anything that might upset them and is always very loving._

“Well, beautiful people need equally beautiful houses, right?” he chuckled.  
“Obviously talking about me,” said Mr. Lee winking playfully at Seungyoun’s amused face.

“Keep dreaming, dad.” Huffed the younger son, entering the house.  
Seungyoun made to take his things and follow Dohyon, but Mr. Lee stopped him. 

“Don’t even try. Hangyul works out so much, might as well take advantage of it,” he said kindly.   
“Hangyul, be a nice guest. Take Seungyoun’s luggage and show him the way.”

Seungyoun reluctantly stopped walking and held his breath as Hangyul approached him with his usual swaggering. His feet were glued to the ground and he forgot about Mr. Lee being on the porch as Hangyul stood a few inches from him. 

Seungyoun could feel Hangyul’s breath on his face. His eyes instantly glanced down as he sensed the soft brush of fingers around his wrist and found Hangyul’s hand brushing for the second time against his.

He glanced up at Hangyul, perplexed.   
“Seungyoun…” he said softly “your... Your luggage. Let me?” Hangyul gripped the handle of the suitcase tightly and took it from his hands.

“Oh, yeah. yeah. “ Seungyoun coughed to cover his embarrassment, taking a few steps back.   
The entire front part of his body felt warm and tingly as if he had been standing next to a fire.

Hangyul walked inside the house first while Mr. Lee waited for him at the doorstep.

“Thanks for inviting me, Mr. Lee,” he said bashfully.   
“Dear God, Seungyoun.” boomed the man with laughter. “I’ve known you even before you and Hangyul went through puberty. Chansung is more than fine.”

Seungyoun had always considered his best friend’s father down to earth and fun, yet as he grew older - _and lately with his developing feelings_ \- the perfect man always left him feeling intimidated. 

The very instant he stepped inside his head was brought back to look across the lake, to search for the source of a loud, joyous echo of laughter. 

Chansung patted him on the back and lead him in.   
“That’s the sound of the summer camp.” He explained. “It’s open all summer long and usually Hangyul drops by as much as he can to help them run things smoothly. I’m sure he’ll be showing you around later on.”

The interior was as homely as the outside and it was bustling with life and happiness, like its owners.   
The soft notes of a piano resounded across the first floor and he watched with shining eyes as Mrs. Lee, Joo, hummed along with the groceries in hand. 

Hangyul was coming down the stairs, looking proudly over the house. 

“I left your stuff in my room, for now, the guest room is still messy as fuck,” he said pointing to the upper floor.   
“First, language. Second, what guest room?” said Joo very kindly, yet flicking Hangyul on the lips.  
Hangyul pouted and pointed behind him to a closed door.

“Pfft.” puffed his mom directing them to the living room with a pitcher of lemonade in hand.  
“You’ve already done so much work. Getting that room ready would be hell. Just let Seungyoun stay in your room.” she said busying herself with fetching something else.

Hangyul raised an eyebrow to Seungyoun as if to ask his opinion.  
“Well then, you could sleep in my room and I will take the couch then.” 

“What no,” he argued instinctively “You don’t have to. If anything, I’ll take the couch.”  
Hangyul waved his hands dismissively.  
“Nope, I’ve decided. But I will still need to use the room to fetch my clothes and whatnot.”

Seungyoun wanted to disagree, feeling already too much of an intruder in the beautiful house. 

“Is it twin-sized?” he said after a while. “‘Cause if it’s twin-sized, we can always share.” He continued turning to his friend, hoping his stable voice hid his inner agitation well enough.   
“It would be a bit of a tight fit, but I’m sure it’d be more comfortable than sleeping on a couch-”  
“It’s actually-” tried to cut Hangyul, but Seungyoun ignored him.

“I mean, we always slept next to each other when we were kids, so it’s cool. I mean I understand if it's not cool for you but like, for me it's totally cool, you know?" He said in a rush, feeling more embarrassed the longer he spoke.

"Are you done?" Hangyul replied with a sigh.

Seungyoun felt his ears getting hotter as Hangyul looked at him with … _affection_?

“Stop making that constipated face, Cho.” He said reaching to take a glass of lemonade from the coffee table of the living room.   
“What’s with you lately, you’ve been all weird. It’s really not your style,” he said offering Seungyoun a glass, too.

Youn scratched the back of his head and huffed muttering. “What is that supposed to mean?” in a very unconvincing voice.

“And sure. If it’s cool for you then it’s cool for me. It won’t even be a tight fit, mom’s got me a full-sized bed.” 

***

The day went on uneventfully with Seungyoun pestering Chansung until the man gave up and let him help Hangyul. 

The main rooms - kitchen, living room, the master bedroom, and the kids’ rooms - were in perfect condition, but the others were still suffering as a consequence of the renovation.

Seungyoun, although tired, couldn’t really complain.  
The whole family was incredibly amicable as always and they were all just as hard working. In just a few hours, the house was almost as good as new. 

Dinner was exquisite and colorful.   
Dohyon’s complaints over vegetables were compensated by Hangyul’s love for them. 

Eating with the two, no matter how frequently it happened, always led to learning new things.   
  
Like the fact that Dohyon wanted to invite Eunsang, but shied from asking not yet that close with the older boy. Or the fact that Hangyul was the one to push for a renovation of the house because he was the one that came to the lake the most.

Dohyon added something under his breath, something about an old crush, earning him a kick from under the table from his brother and a few amused smiles from his parents.  
Seungyoun had tried to inquire more on the matter but Hangyul and dismissed the subject with a panicked look and announced he craved for dessert.

They stayed chatting far after the cheesecake was over, pouring glasses and laughing over old anecdotes. As he quietly sipped on some supposedly fine red, not that he knew much about it, he couldn’t help but think for the umpth time that Hangyul’s parents were, for lack of better words, really dope and chill.

At first, he was taken aback when he saw Chansung pouring half a glass to Dohyon as well, but Hangyul reassured him. 

“Dad lets him drink a small amount if he’s with the family,” he said leaning to whisper.   
“Just enough to get him sleepy on special occasions.”  
“What’s the special occasion now?” he replied in an equally hushed tone.

Seungyoun couldn’t control the goosebumps that rose on his skin as Hangyul, a little red on his cheeks, whispered back in his ears.   
“Well, you’re here.”

When bedtime came, Seungyoun dragged his feet up the stairs.   
His mind was a little clouded but still sane enough to feel his sides burning where Hangyul was tightly gripping his waist to make him walk properly.

He felt himself smiling and watched as Dohyon locked his door.   
Somewhere behind him, he heard Mr. Lee bidding them goodnight.   
When Hangyul answered it came as a deep, husky sound somewhere so close to his ear that Seungyoun almost moaned. 

Seungyoun cursed his low alcohol tolerance, letting himself fall face first on the bed and groaning when his head spun painfully.   
Hangyul, on the other hand, seemed untroubled and quickly disregarded his upper wear and changed into flannel pants. 

He walked up to his friend to force him up and trying to talk him into brushing his teeth.  
Seungyoun simply enjoyed messing around with Gyul, tensing his body to make it harder for the latter to pick him up and laughing to himself.

Hangyul was persistent and as much as it made Seungyoun warm inside he knew they could only play around so long before he had to go wash up for real.   
He let the younger take him by the arms and hoist him up, his body light when handled by Hangyul’s muscular arms.

His little yelp due to the force that brought him up turned into a sigh of surprise, his breath catching in his lungs as he opened his eyes and found his nose inches from Hangyul’s.

His eyes hurriedly turned down and away from Gyul’s intense ones only to see his hands naturally resting over his friend’s naked torso.  
“Uh- I, hmm I-I” he stuttered, somewhat hypnotized by Hangyul’s tanned pectorals.   
Was his friend always so damn… _everything_?

Hangyul turned away quickly, brushing his hair back and making his back muscles flex.   
The sight didn’t exactly help the inappropriate thoughts forming in Seungyoun’s head.   
  
They took turns using the bathroom which helped Seungyoun calm down, trying to wrap around the idea of having to spend a week with this exact proximity to his… _crush?_  
 _Could he identify Hangyul as much?_

After all, sure, he did like him. Sort of.   
But first and foremost, Hangyul was a friend.   
_The best friend._  
His best friend, who didn’t think thirsty, compromising thoughts about him. 

Seungyoun let his mind run free, trying to understand what to do until he realized he was making faces in the mirror.   
He rinsed his mouth and washed his face with cold water, hoping that sobering up would wash away all his problematic feelings for Hangyul. 

When he entered the room, the lights were already off and he navigated around using as a reference point the light coming from Hangyul’s phone, flashing the latter’s face. 

Hangyul was already under the covers with his back towards Seungyoun’s side of the bed and Youn slowly mirrored his position.

He could hear Gyul’s breathing, slow and steady, and closed his eyes thinking about the events of the day. 

The way Hangyul’s eyes became glossy after a couple of glasses of wine.   
The way his body moved easily under tension and his cute grunts while moving boxes - _he knew he was totally biased in this, though, and that Hangyul had the tendency to sweat buckets_ \- or the way he hummed in the car.   
Not to mention he knew exactly what kind of Americano get him from the rest stop - _with a sprinkle of caramel_ \- and that he had reprimanded Dohyon for laughing loudly while Seungyoun was asleep. 

His eyes opened slowly, moving in the dark and looking at where he knew he had left his laptop.  
  
Hangyul was starting to treat him particularly well even without the premise of a fake date.   
_Was that genuine or was Seungyoun simply blurring the lines of their friendship?_  
He had always been kind and nice.   
_Was he truly nicer lately or was Seungyoun simply noticing it more because of his newfound feelings?_

 _“Hangyul?”_ he found himself whispering in the night. 

The electronic light coming from his phone was gone.  
“Gyullie, you still awake?” he whispered a little louder.

He heard and felt movement from behind him, the rustling of sheets and the dipping of the bed.   
“Yup, why?”

Seungyoun smiled to himself. “Nothing... just wanted to say thank you.” 

He imagined Hangyul smiling a little in the second of silence that followed.   
“No need to thank me, stupid. It’s nice having you here.”  
“It’s nice being here. I’ve always wondered where you liked to disappear every summer.” 

Seungyoun felt the small tapping on his shoulder.   
“If you wanna do some midnight talking at least turn this way. I feel like I’m talking to your back.”   
Seungyoun obeyed and shifted to find Hangyul with his hands under his head, already looking at him.

The moonlight was coming in the room, dimmed and soft, caressing Hangyul’s face and neck and Seungyoun let out a huff of breath, taking in the sight.

“I can’t believe I never asked you to come along before.”

There was something in the way his eyes shone intensely in the darkness that made it difficult for Seungyoun to bare being under their gaze.  
“Same,” he said closing his eyes and smiling tiredly. “Although, it must be because you’re hiding something from me, right?”

Hangyul snorted and scooted closer.  
Seungyoun could feel the heat coming from his body.

“What was it that Dohyon said at dinner?” Seungyoun said teasingly.  
“ _Youn_ …” muttered Hangyul in warning, making him want to continue.  
 _“You only wanted to renovate the house so you could have an excuse to be around hyung more.”_ He said imitating Dohyon’s voice and laughing to himself.   
“Tell me Lee Hangyul. Who’s this hyung?” 

Seungyoun opened his eyes and smirked mischievously.   
“Let me guess, he was one of your supervisors when you were little. Everyone always gets crushes on older boys during camp. Cute, little Hangyul is still hung up on his old crush, huh?” he said reaching out to pinch him.

Something passed through Hangyul’s eyes, something intense that looked sad and disappointed.   
“It’s not what it sounds like, I didn’t have a crush on him or anything,” he muttered quietly. 

_Sure_ , thought Seungyoun, finding the idea of a small Hangyul hanging around an older hyung trying to impress him very adorable.

“And he’s not a hyung anyway.” that made Seungyoun frown. “ _Yohan_ is our age.”

“Oh,” he said, hoping the change in his voice wasn’t too obvious.

“We met one summer when we were little and now that we’re too old, we both come every year to help around,” he said clearly lost in his own thoughts.  
“He kept teasing me, saying this house was gonna fall apart sooner or later and started fixing the patio in the garden. So I told my parents about it and we decided to renovate the house.”

“ _We_?” he asked raising an eyebrow, hoping to mask his sudden worry with curiosity.

“Don’t make that face, stupid,” said Hangyul frowning more.  
“Yes, we. _Me and Yohan_. He helped me.”

Seungyoun thought of his impression of the house. _Warm, homely, lovely._   
This Yohan guy had helped Hangyul in creating all of it.

Imagining Hangyul with a crush wasn’t all that endearing after all.

“Don’t let Dohyon fool you. Yohan is just a friend.” Concluded Hangyul as he turned around again, his tone obviously grumpy.

 _Then why are you so upset?_ He thought, closing his eyes in defeat. 


	5. Old friends, Crushes and Drive-Ins

Hangyul woke up with the sun in his face. 

He had forgotten to close the blinds of his window the night before, too preoccupied with trying to ignore the pounding in his chest at the thought of sleeping next to Seungyoun.

Spending the whole day with him seemed like a dream, something that hadn’t happened since they were in elementary school, back when Hagyul slept over at Seungyoun’s for days at a time.

He groaned sleepily tightening his grip on his pillow until it moved on its own, moaning softly.  
The sound, so sweet to the ear, made him grunt in confusion.

_Since when did he have a moving pillow?_

His hands moved freely over the object he was holding. It felt ... _warm_?   
Hangyul leaned closer drowsily, trying to rub his face on the soft padding and found himself smelling something sweet yet woody. 

He let a huff, feeling his body relax. It had been so long since the last time he had felt this way. Since he last fell asleep next to… _someone_?

As if on cue he felt a leg tangle itself between his, the feeling of what his awakening mind identified as a thigh, brushing against his friend down south. He moaned as his fingers caressed higher and touched something perky. His mind started working just in time to feel the body in his arms, turning to face him, moaning as something hard brushed against him. 

_S-Seung...Seungyoun?_ He thought.   
His brain belatedly realized the compromising position they were in. 

Hangyul scooted aside, first taking his hands away from under Seungyoun’s shirt, then untangling his legs and shivering weakly when the older tried to move in closer. 

Gyul stood up quietly, trying not to wake the sleeping boy.   
He started pacing around the room, ignoring the way his little friend was wide awake as well. 

He had just groped his best friend while he was asleep. _Did that count as harassment?_  
_It couldn’t right? After all, Hangyul was barely conscious, himself._

He watched Seungyoun toss and turn on the bed, his shirt riding up to expose his soft milky tummy and sporting a half hard tent in his boxers.  
Not even his tousled hair and slightly drooling mouth could help Hangyul’s body from reacting naturally at the sight. 

He rolled his eyes, crying silently and rubbing his face in frustration.   
He was the worst best friend in the world.

Hangyul hastily grabbed the first thing he could from the closet and run off to hide in the bathroom. 

He could hear the sound of his parents listening to some music, cooking, and the moment he closed the door to the bathroom he saw Dohyon emerging from his room, looking like a zombie.

The shower gave him time to think.

Having feelings for Seungyoun was something he had slowly come to terms with in the past month and noticing the way Seungyoun’s eyes lingered on him and the way he blushed when they were too close…

Well, he thought something was shifting in their friendship.   
After all, Seungyoun had even stopped saying the word ‘fake’. 

And then last night. 

After spending the day together, after watching Seungyoun smile when their hands touched over the gear stick and after Seungyoun was the one to offer sleeping next to each other.   
It was a sappy thought, but for a moment he dared to hope.

Until of course Seungyoun had to look so incredibly excited at the idea that Hangyul might have feelings for someone else.   
_Was it so nice for him to think about Hangyul with a different guy?_  
Because for Hangyul the mere thought of Seungyoun actually falling in love with someone was excruciating.

Hangyul huffed to himself, perhaps he should just go along with reason and Dohyon.

Yohan was a good party.  
Athletic, funny, sometimes dumb, but the good kind of dumb. 

But the deeper he thought, all the good things that made Yohan a good match turned in his brain to paint the image of an idiot boy that resembled a fox mixed with a Shiba dog.

He got dressed, pouting at the idea of having to spend the day pretending his best friend didn’t make his inside go all fuzzy.

The moment Hangyul walked out of the bathroom, the house was fully flooded with sunlight and the smell of breakfast filled the air making his stomach whine loudly.   
  
He found Seungyoun awake and fully dressed, his hair tamed down and his glasses on. He was still sitting on the bed, laptop on his thighs, typing away furiously. 

“Working on the play so early in the morning?” he said not meeting his eyes, afraid of looking distressed.  
“Oh, you finally got out of there,” said Seungyoun closing his computer “and, no, just doing literature homework while waiting for you. Can’t write, if you don’t do your job and take me out.” He said, blowing raspberries at him.

 _Your job,_ of course, Seungyoun saw it as a job. 

_Don’t be so disappointed Hangyul. You’re the one who said it was supposed to be all fake. That he wasn’t allowed to catch feelings for you._

“Let’s go down for breakfast, stupid,” he said throwing a notebook his way to mask the frown on his face.  
“Are you dismissing me just like that?” replied Seungyoun smiling.  
“You bugged me for weeks to make up my mind for our last date!” he added skipping down the stairs.

Hangyul almost resented him for a moment. 

“Don’t worry about it, I’ll think about something.”  
He said grumpily, sitting down on a stool.

Seungyoun gaped at him with a dubious look catching on his bad mood.  
The morning passed in a blink and Hangyul felt horrible for letting his heart influence him so much. 

Youn had no-fault, in all honesty, and it was Hangyul’s fault for doing exactly what he said wasn’t possible in the first place.  
He let cute dates go to his head and make him realise he might have been crushing on his best friend for a few years now.

Hangyul watched quietly from the sides as Dohyon and Seungyoun played the piano, writing songs excitedly.  
He was trying to catalyze his feelings to go back where they belonged, buried deep under the magnolia tree just outside when his mother came all smiles and batting of eyelashes asking what they wanted for lunch.

“Oh, and by the way,” she said turning on her way to the kitchen. “Your father and I just passed by the camp. We saw Yohan.”   
She said facing her eldest son. “He offered to help you show Seungyoun around later today.”

Hangyul turned to look at his brother sniggering. Seungyoun was already staring at him, his face an impassable, unreadable mask.

“He’s coming over for lunch.”

***

Seungyoun watched from the stairs not bothering to cover the annoyment in his stare as the boy greeted everyone enthusiastically.

“Oh my god! Dohyon! How can you be so cute and so big at the same time? You gonna grow taller than me by next year!” 

Kim Yohan, as neatly stitched on his orange summer camp shirt, hugged and pinched the youngest of the brothers before moving to give an affectionate handshake to Mr. Lee and a little bow of the head bashfully as Mrs. Lee declaimed his out-of-the-world beauty.

Seungyoun rolled his eyes, slowly getting down, knowing he was inevitably going to address him as well.

Sure, Yohan was truly, very handsome and had something quite manly in his features despite being seventeen years old like them.   
Still, Youn found the whole scene unnecessary.   
After all, Joo had always said Seungyoun was the one she secretly hoped Hangyul would pursue if she could control it. 

And the fact that finally Hangyul, for the first time since waking up, found the strength to show an actual, real smile because of this random dude showing up... 

_Ugh_ , Seungyoun had already decided he hated him with a passion. 

No one seemed to notice how Youn ate very little at lunch, all too immersed in the casual stories Yohan told about different summers and the kids that went there.  
He and Hangyul seemed to never run out of things to say, events to recall and inside jokes to laugh about. 

How come he never once told his best friend about this guy?   
There was something totally unbelievable in Hangyul never once mentioning this Yohan. 

“And remember when Kijung cried because Dohyon told him you couldn’t be his real brother?”   
Everyone seemed to think it was hilarious except for the mentioned boy who turned red in embarrassment. 

Seungyoun’s eyes met Hangyul from across the table and the other had the nerve to smile at him as if hadn’t been inexplicably upset the whole morning.   
Admittedly childishly, but also to irked to care, Seungyoun gave him a tightlipped smile that he hoped conceived his irritation and annoyment well enough. 

“As if I’m the only jealous one.” Huffed Dohyon, shooing away Hangyul’s hand that was trying to pinch his cheeks.  
“Are we not going to talk about that one time Yohan hyung literally cried because Hangyul chose to join Sihun’s team instead of his.” 

“What can I say?” laughed Hangyul winking. “I’m that great.”  
“Pfft. I cried because Sihun asked you to be his teammate instead of me, pretty boy.” replied with a smirk.   
Seungyoun had to repress the retching urges. 

“And I’ll do it again if the idiots ever try to gang up against me again.” He said shrugging.   
“And I’ll tell you what. Hangyul would probably react the same way.” 

The whole table erupted in laughter and even Seungyoun couldn’t help but smile too at the thought.  
Hangyul nodded in agreement while Dohyon muttered ' _weak_ ' under his breath.

“We’re not scared of your toxic masculinity, Dodo.” the two friends high-fived each other, both giving their best thug faces.

That moment Seungyoun knew that under different circumstances he’d probably like Yohan a lot. 

After lunch, Yohan lead them outside and hopped on his jeep telling them to follow him to the other side of the lake. Dohyon dashed after him, stating he loved riding _BbolBbol_ , whatever that meant, leaving Seungyoun and Hangyul to take the car all alone.

Hangyul seemed definitely in a better mood and the whole conversation about him having a crush on Yohan resonated in Youn’s brain until his friend poked him on the thigh. 

“The gear stick,” he said softly.

Seungyoun bit his tongue, tempted to just tell him to _fucking do it himself_ , and placed his hand on the stick telling himself he had no real right to be so jealous.

The drive was longer than expected not to mention rocky, but Seungyoun was too busy looking at the view and following Hnagyul’s instructions on when to change gears to really care.

Walking around the muddy place, every boy and girl seemed to enjoy either jumping in Yohan and Hangyul’s arms or stare at Seungyoun as if he was an alien. Dohyon, on the other hand, seemed to wave at all the supervisors that walked around and simultaneously avoid kids like the plague.

They toured a little over an hour and Seungyoun thought it wasn’t much of a surprise that both boys still loved the camp. It felt like one of those places you only ever saw on tv, like _Half-Blood Camp_ but without the whole almost dying, godly parent thingy.

At a certain point, Yohan had somehow charmed Seungyoun as well, as much as the latter hated to admit it. He was funny and easy-going and even if he had a face that could turn everyone green with envy, he was surprisingly humble and even shy at times.

He had a way of speaking with Hangyul, a familiarity that Seungyoun had only ever seen when Gyul was talking to him.  
But other than that Yohan seemed pretty harmless. 

_“1, 2, 3!”_

Seungyoun looked from a distance as the other two seventeen years old throw Dohyon in the lake. 

He wasn’t really sure he wanted to join them in their swim, a little intimidated at the possible comparison.

Both of them were extremely fit and had thighs Seungyoun was both scared and lowkey turned on by, while he had lost all will to keep in shape a little after dropping out the soccer team in freshman year.

He lay under the sun, wondering how long he could stay there before officially starting to burn.

There was a loud shout, a girl screaming Yohan’s name, small and cute, but with a strong and powerful voice.  
She was wearing an orange t-shirt matching the one Yohan had been wearing. 

Dohyon kept on diving on the dock ignoring the girl.

Seungyoun noticed bitterly how Gyul’s eyes followed Yohan as the boy walked away to talk to the girl.  
As if sensing someone looking at him, Hangyul turned and met Seungyoun’s eyes. 

The best part of having sunglasses was that for once Youn could actually stand the intensity of the sight for more than three seconds.  
But still, Hangyul was shirtless, tanned and wet and after waving at him from where he was sunbathing, and maybe letting his eyes scan his body a little bit, Seungyoun felt the need to look away.

Yohan talked with the small girl for a few minutes more, looking a little awkward as if he didn’t know what to do with his body. He kept on scratching his head, moving his hands a lot or switching his position every few seconds. 

When the girl left smiling, Yohan ran back to the dock where Hangyul was waiting for him.  
A little part of his brain told him to stop looking, but obviously, he didn’t listen and glued his eyes on the two.

Hangyul was grinning genuinely as Yohan seemed to tell him something and it was cool.  
Maybe a little disappointing, because Seungyoun felt as if he hadn’t been able to make Gyul smile in a lifetime. 

But then the smaller opened up his arms with a cute fake pout and Yohan hugged him, fitting in his arms naturally.   
A couple of seconds of Hangyul patting Yohan on the back affectionately were more than enough for Seungyoun’s eyes. 

He closed his eyes and wished for the afternoon to end fast.

***

“I don’t know, man.” Yohan panted as they swam further away from the shore. 

Hangyul turned in the water to watch Dohyon get smaller and smaller in his spot on the dock.   
“Aw, don’t be so pessimistic, Han,” he said before taking a few strokes forward. “Maybe she simply didn’t get what you meant.”

Yohan stopped swimming to do the dead man’s float.  
Hangyul felt his face drop, he never liked seeing his friend in a bad mood.  
He let his body float next to him and stared at the blue sky, taking in the peacefulness of the lake. 

Yohan broke the silence after a few seconds. “Well, what’s done is done. I’ll just try again another time.”

He didn’t look back twice before starting to swim back to the shore. 

When they got back, Dohyon was walking toward the public baths and Seungyoun still lay lifeless under the sun. Hangyul took his time getting out of the water, more than a little distracted by the beautiful contrast made by Seungyoun’s milky skin and his deep red swim trunks.

Yohan, on the other hand, was moving quickly, shaking his head and dripping water everywhere like a dog, when he was done he looked at Hangyul for a second before smiling brightly.

“Anyway, man, just because I’m a sad single soul doesn't mean I'm gonna be a bitch and drag you down too.” He said resting a hand on Gyul’s shoulder. 

Hangyul raised an eyebrow, puzzled. 

“Do you remember the old field where they made us play Capture the Flag? That’s where they’re organizing it.” 

Hangyul still couldn’t understand and Yohan kept acting as if it was obvious, which didn’t really make him feel any smarter.

“Who’s organizing what?”   
“ _The Drive-In Cinema_?” replied Yohan, looking surprised at the question.  
“Wow, then you say _I’m_ slow. We’ve only been talking about this for the whole day.” 

“Oh, you wanna go together? I’m up to it if it’ll cheer you up.” Hangyul offered with a smile.

“What, nope nope _nope_ ,” Yohan shouted and raised his hands in surrender.  
“I meant to say you should take your lover-boy,” he said smacking Hangyul’s cheeks gently.

“What lover boy?” Hangyul tried screaming after him, but Yohan was already far gone and almost next to Seungyoun already. 

***

Seungyoun felt cold water dripping on him and a shadow block the sun rays above his head. 

He opened his eyes and was met with the sight of Yohan’s perfect abs.  
The groan came as a natural reaction as he slowly sat up and took off his sunglasses. 

The world was a few shades paler than he remembered, his eyes not used the bright light. 

Yohan chuckled, something that made Seungyoun’s face twist and his eyes roll back.  
The younger boy seemed unfazed and sat next to him wetting Youn’s skin more.

“You don’t like me very much, huh?” Seungyoun looked in disbelief to his left. Did he actually expect him to answer?

“It’s okay, I mean, not _really_. I want us to get along.” He said with a shrug. 

When Seungyoun made no sign of wanting to continue the conversation, Yohan kept on talking.  
“It’s okay, you’re being territorial. You don’t really know me and I hogged all of Hangyul’s time. I get the feeling, that need of reassurance.” 

The ease in which Yohan said all of those things made Seungyoun wanna slap him, _hard_.

“I feel the same way.”

At that Seungyoun couldn’t contain himself and to avoid actually getting too upset, he jumped to his feet. 

Yohan kept on, staring at something in the distance.  
“Meeting someone special is confusing, right?” he said glancing up to Seungyoun.

“To your eyes, they’re funny and cute. The way they brush their hair back and scream at you to stop getting in late.”

Seungyoun rolled his eyes and glared at him.  
_He had just told him he wanted them to get along and now he was professing his love for Seungyoun’s crush?_  
_How were they supposed to get along?_

“But at least you seem to have a chance.”

Seungyoun frowned at that. 

_Was he really that much of an idiot? Had Yohan not noticed the fact than Hangyul spent the whole day with him?_

“Yuri is never gonna like me back.” He sighed dramatically. 

Seungyoun exclaimed loudly, to taken aback to care. “Yuri?!” 

“Yeah,” he said dreamily “she’s _perfect_ ,” he added with a pout.  
“And gives like zero fucks about me.”

Seungyoun’s mind was really close to going short-circuit and he actually felt the physical need to sit down again.

“For example, just a little while ago,” he said pointing to the exact place where Seungyoun saw him talk to the small girl.   
“I invited her to a drive-in cinema and she told me she’ll see if Yena has something to do and go with her.” 

He turned to Yohan, finally working out what he was talking about.  
He almost felt like laughing in relief if it wasn’t for the fact that the other looked like a beaten dog.   
Seungyoun tentatively wrapped an arm around Yohan’s shoulders, patting stiffly.

Yohan sighed deeply and turned to look at Youn’s hand on him.  
“Hangyul was right about you,” he said smiling “you’re cool.”

Seungyoun didn’t really know how to react and simply kept on patting.

“He talks a lot about you, you know.”

A little fast-paced beating started in his chest hearing those words.

“All good things, too, so you better treat him right okay? I know taekwondo.”   
Yohan turned to him with a nagging finger. 

Seungyoun felt himself blush and stuttered in denial. “We- we’re not- we’re not dating.” 

Yohan got up and threw his towel over his shoulder. “Not _yet_ , you mean.” 

***

They still had a night to spend at the lake and all in all, everything went smoothly.  
Yohan and Seungyoun seemed to get along nicely after the first day.

Hangyul was almost jealous of the way they seemed to understand each other and sometimes Yohan would whisper something that made Seungyoun stutter and blush.

In those moments he truly relied on the knowledge that Han was straight. 

Yohan still got a little sad when he saw Yuri in passing across the camp, but he usually got over it fast and even started making plans on how to ask her out again.

Deep in thought, Hangyul tapped his fingers impatiently against the couch’s armrest, waiting for Seungyoun. 

He tried to understand where they stood.  
Over the past week, Seungyoun had been so close and yet so far.  
They spent all the time together, having fun, swimming, playing around and Hangyul was practically certain he wasn’t just imagining the way things felt different.

Lingering touches when they cleaned the dishes, blatant staring when they got out of the water, falling asleep whispering softly to each other. Hangyul smiled to himself at the way Seungyoun always looked at him when he laughed. He read somewhere online that when you like someone you tend to look at them when you react, so maybe Seungyoun _did_ like him.

Yohan seemed to think as much, and spent the week pointing out all the time he caught Seungyoun looking at Hangyul or glaring at anyone that hit on him on camp. 

Hangyul inevitably started to hope.

He decided to wait until they were back home, see how things developed once they weren’t next to each other 24/7.  
And maybe then confess, even if it meant taking back his words on friends falling in love with each other.

He heard the sound of footsteps coming from the stairs and turned around just in time to see Seungyoun in a plain white shirt and jeans, phone in hand and glasses on, ready to go.

As usual, Seungyoun took his seat shotgun and claimed control of the gear stick. 

Hangyul would be lying if he said he didn’t know he’d find his hand there, but still pretended not to notice and when it was time to park he placed his palm over Seungyoun’s gripped tightly and ignored the little butterflies and urge to smile.

The drive-in was full of cars, some he could recognize, like his parent’s or the campus director’s, others he wished were his, but most he didn’t even bother looking at, Seungyoun’s presence taking the majority of his attention span. 

“Do you know what they’re gonna project?” asked Youn after Hangyul successfully fished out of the back seat a bag of chips.

“ _When Harry met Sally_ ” he replied eyeing Seungyoun’s hand that was still resting on the gear stick. “I never watched it.”

Seungyoun snorted, visibly unsurprised. Whatever he had planned on answering back got caught in his throat the moment Hangyul moved his right hand to rest over his left.

The following seconds were the longest in his life. His eyes were stuck on their joined hands, too afraid to turn to look at Seungyoun. 

He could feel the sound of his heart in his ears, beating like a marching drum and he was so nervous his brain was starting to spin.

Seungyoun slowly moved his hand away from under his and he felt his world crumble a little.

“Oh, wow I didn’t notice,” he said awkwardly.

Seungyoun smiled at him, his ears were red but his gaze never faltered. Hangyul felt like dying right there and then, he had never been a good actor.  
He coughed looking away, hoping to forget about the whole thing but Seungyoun’s movement brought Hangyul’s attention back to him.

Youn took the bag of chips from his lap and moved it to his, eating some in the process, then he turned Hangyul’s head and looked at him straight in the eye. 

Hangyul felt his hand being moved to rest over the other’s thigh, a small hand held him and soft fingers interlaced with his.

After that, Seungyoun simply faced the screen and never once brought his eyes back to Hangyul, but it was enough for him. 

Hangyul had to look at his best friend’s hand every fifteen minutes or so, not believing what was happening until Harry confessed to Sally and when he turned to Seungyoun, the older boy was already looking at him.

His heart warmed and skipped a beat feeling Seungyoun holding his hand a little tighter than before.


	6. Eavesdropping, Ghosting and Understanding

  
Hangyul took out his phone to immortalise Seungyoun as he yet again missed the pins to get a perfect spare. 

It had been a week, a frustratingly long week since that night at the drive-in cinema near the lake.   
Right when Hangyul thought they had reached a turning point in their friendship, Seungyoun woke up the following day acting as if he hadn’t reached out for his hand and held it tightly all throughout the movie.  
  
Hangyul told himself to let a few days pass, see how things were once back in town, yet after a week he still couldn’t bring himself to do anything.   
The mixed signs he kept receiving were making a mess out of his mind and now he was back to fearing rejection.

Seungyoun scoffed at Hangyul as the latter managed to get yet another strike.  
Even if Gyul was winning, he didn’t feel much of a winner.

He smirked and told his friend to just go get his ball and get over with his turn.

Seungyoun was wearing one of his hoodies, one that he borrowed on their last day at the lake house and Hangyul hoped it some a sort of sign.

He had thought a couple of times, of being the one to bring it up, _but wasn’t it supposed to come from Youn?_  
It was Seungyoung who initiated, so it only made sense that the boy finished what he started and built up the guts to explain the meaning behind holding hands with him during the romantic movie,  
In other words, _yeah_ , Hangyul was too _shy_.

He got up, sneakily took another picture of Seungyoun biting his lower lip and frowning at their scores, then excused himself, making his way to the restroom.

_How about another three days?_  
 _Three days and if Seungyoun still pretends nothing happened you talk to him first._  
Hangyul was talking himself into an ultimatum when he heard Kookheon’s familiar voice.

“... ’re here with Hangyul,” he said.   
“Yeah,” Seungyoun’s voice was cheerful and light. “and if you look at our scores you can totally see it was not my idea.”  
Kookheon laughed. 

They both had their backs to Hangyul, facing the board above the bowling alley.   
Kookheon was wearing a uniform and Gyul recalled how the boy had told him he had found a summer job. 

“It’s nice, though.” He said almost too quietly for Hangyul to hear.   
“We were all wondering when it was gonna happen.”  
“What do you mean?” Seungyoun slightly turned his face to look at their friend. His face revealing his utter perplexity.  
“Well, you and Hangyul, _of course_.” 

Hangyul smiled at that.  
More than once over the years, his friends had teased him saying they would have gotten together one way or another. 

_To think I used to say I’d never feel that way for Seungyoun…_

“Wait what?” 

Gyul’s face fell.  
Even more upsetting than hearing Seungyoun’s panicked voice was seeing his eyes widened in disbelief, his hands coming above his chest as if to physically push away the idea.  
“No! No, _nothing_ is happening.”  
  
“We’re still just friends.” Seungyoun’s voice was a little apologetic but at the same time firm. 

“Oh, Oh.. I’m sorry,” Kookheon seemed taken aback, almost as much as Hangyul.  
“I just heard people around town saying they saw you around together all summer, you know? Like Seungwoo even said he saw you on a date a few weeks ago.”

Hangyul wanted to take a few steps back, get away from the scene, but he needed to know the things Seungyoun was going to say.   
Things he clearly didn’t think were necessary to clarify to Hangyul.

“Oh yeah, he’s not wrong on that. But those aren’t _real_ dates.” Seungyoun chuckled at his own sentence, brushing back a few strands of hair.

Hangyul saw Kookheon raising both eyebrows.

“Hangyul is taking me out to help me get inspiration for a play.”

He felt bitterness pool in his mouth, _he was truly so fucking dumb, wasn’t he?_

Kookheon must have had a bewildered face ‘cause after a few seconds Seungyoun explained further,  
“Homework for my drama club.”  
“So, there’s nothing more?” Kookheon voiced exactly what Hangyul was thinking, but he didn’t have the strength to stay and listen to the reply.   
He already knew the answer anyway.

A tear escaped his eye as he thought of how ironic this turn of tables was.

***

“You don’t really sound so convinced, man,” said Kookheon, leading him to sit down on a bench.  
“Okay fine, maybe there is something more.” Admitted Seungyoun. “But I don’t know.”  
He remained silent, waiting for his friend’s reaction.  
“Care to explain or am I supposed to guess?”

Seungyoun took a deep breath.   
“Well, the first date was great and nothing changed. I mean, it was sort of heart-fluttering the way Hangyul treated me and all. But it’s Gyul, he’s like that with _everyone_.” He started, busying his hands with picking at his cuticles to avoid getting flustered.  
  
“Not to mention I didn’t want him to win so easily. You know, he thinks friends can’t have feelings for each other and all that cynical shit.

Then, the second date was strange. Hangyul was cuter than usual.  
He asked me to read to him and that was super domestic I kinda gay panicked for a second.” 

Kookheon was nodding along, trying to keep up and Seungyoun couldn’t care to slow down his rant, absorbed in the summary of his summer.

“Later, the third date. Well, that was very fun.   
That shouldn't have been strange, he’s my best friend and we always have fun together.   
But that time was so … romantic? 

We were skating and they kept playing cheesy songs and we laughed all the time and Hangyul looks really attractive when he smiles. You _have to have_ _noticed_ that.” 

Seungyoun took his time to smile proudly as his friend begrudgingly nodded in agreement.

“And I might have thought of kissing him more than once that night.   
So I tried to buy myself some time and postponed as much as I could the fourth date but to no use because suddenly _I’m in their lake house for a week!_  
And then there’s this practically perfect guy and I hated him only because I was jealous.   
Long story short, he’s a great dude and his straight so no problem there.” He took a quick but deep breath and kept on talking. 

He was on automatic, his mouth running almost as fast as his heart.   
Summer had passed so quickly, taking over him and making him feel all kinds of things.

“Plus he kept saying he thinks we look good together and that he knows Hangyul since forever - _as if I don’t_ \- and that he’s sure Gyul likes me. And I don’t know. 

I started thinking he was right. So when we went to the drive-in I held Hangyul’s hand during the movie, but now it’s been a week and Hangyul still hasn’t brought that up so maybe I was wrong?”

Seungyoun finished his last sentence looking up to Kookheon with a pout, feeling a little disheartened about how things were left kind of hanging between him and Hangyul ever since they got back. 

“Okay, you totally lost me around the second date, but let me get this straight,” said Kookheon making a stop gesture with both his hands.   
“this Yochan guy says Hangyul likes you?”  
“Yohan,” corrected Seungyoun, “but yeah.”

“And you held Hangyul’s hand?” he asked as if to make sure.  
Seungyoun nodded once, not sure what was his friend’s point.

Kookheon had that face he always made in class during tests.   
“Did he seem to enjoy it?”  
“Well he did look confused at first, but he didn’t move away.” Seungyoun smiled, his chest heaving in a sweet way reminiscing that night.   
“I think he even tightened the grip a few times?”

The small guy stared at him, his eyes showing his incredulity.

“Has it ever crossed your mind that Hangyul is waiting for you to bring it up?”  
Seungyoun stopped to think for a moment, unsure. 

“You think?”  
“Well, you’re the one who held his hand out of the blue and if Yohan is right and Gyul likes you, he’s probably too shy to do anything.” 

From that point of view, things felt a lot different, admitted Seungyoun to himself.

“I mean,” went on Kookheon.  
“ You’re his best friend! You know the suave front only works when he’s not trying. When he likes someone he becomes a stuttering baby!” 

Seungyoun laughed, perfectly conscious that Kookheon was right. 

“So what should I do?” he said, breaking into an excited smile.  
“I don’t know.” shrugged back his friend. “Ask him out, write him a song, confess at the top of your lungs.”

Seungyoun looked towards the restrooms.   
_Speaking of Hangyul, how much was he taking to get out of there?_

“But if you want something to happen, maybe you should do it yourself.” 

He focused again on Kookheon and his love-consultation session.   
“If Hangyul said he doesn’t believe in friends falling for each other, then stay assured he won’t do anything, he’s too stubborn for that.”

Seungyoun frowned, remembering that part of doubts that afflicted him.

“ But that’s the other thing! He doesn’t believe friends fall for each other. What if he still thinks that and I’m just delulu.” 

Kookheon sighed, putting his palms together to put emphasis on his words.   
“Look I don’t have all the answers, but honestly? One thing is helping you with your play, one thing is looking at you like you puke rainbows and taking pictures of you while you’re bowling. Not to mention, one of his friends literally told you Hangyul likes you.” 

Kookheon stood up, looking around to make sure none of his superiors were about to scold him for chatting during his shift. 

“I know it’s a tough spot, but if you want to DTA, then do it,” he said, taking a few steps away from Seungyoun.   
“Don’t wait for him to wake up. You wake up!”

***

Seunyoun waited half an hour before receiving a message from Dohyon saying Hangyul unexpectedly felt ill and went straight home. 

He spent the night worried sick, texting Gyul for updates.   
In return he got a simple, short _‘I’m good, don’t worry’._

He waited again a couple of days, but Hangyul didn’t write to him again after that and Seungyoun was starting to overthink.

_[ Hey wanna meet up? I have to talk to you. ]_

Seungyoun stared at the unsent text, feeling like there was something wrong, and backspaced furiously.

_[ Hey, you free tonight? I have some stuff to tell you. :))) ]_

He was pretty certain there were better ways to ask someone out, especially if you planned to confess your feelings for them, but it was the best he could do. 

When no reply came back, Seungyoun knew in his gut that Hangyul was avoiding him.

_[ Hey i saw you read the other text… ]_

_Did he do something wrong?_   
_Or maybe Hangyul had something bothering him and Seungyoun being clingy didn’t make things better._

_[ You probably forgot to reply hehe ]_

He hoped to sound nonchalant, even if he already knew he didn’t.

_[ Anyways text me when you can ]_

***

Another day went by and even if they usually just texted, Seungyoun tried calling him.

He started pacing up and down his room, biting his fingernails and hating the feeling of it. But the nervousness was eating him up.  
On the third try, Hangyul picked up.

“Hey, Hangyul! I thought you weren’t going to answer” he was too relieved to care about how breathy and needy his voice came out.  
“What do you need, Cho?”   
The phrase itself was cold and distant, but Hangyul’s voice was tired and soft and somehow that made it even worse.

“Hey … is everything alright?” Maybe Seungyoun should have tried video calling.   
There was nothing he wanted more than to actually see Hangyul. He sounded so worn out.  
“Splendid,” he replied curtly.  
“Oh, Okay. You sure?” he tried again, sitting down on his bed.

There was a brief silence in which Hangyul took a deep breath.  
“Seungyoun, why did you call?” his voice was just a bit firmer.  
“Well I know what the next date is going to be!” he said trying to bring a little more spirit in their conversation. 

Hangyul always asked Youn to be loud and happy, especially when he wasn’t. To bring up the mood.

“There’s a new taco place downtown and I thought we could try that out.” He said with the most lively voice he could muster. 

A part of him told him it wasn’t going to work this time.  
“The last time we ate tacos you had stomach-ache for days. Think about it as a celebration date.” he tried.

“To celebrate what?” Hangyul almost sounded put off more by the offer.  
“Senior year I guess, plus I finished my play.”   
“Well, then I don’t see the point.”  
Seungyoun frowned. Hangyul didn’t sound tired or sad anymore.   
Just really, _really_ cross.

“Wait what do-” _you mean?_ He tried to say, but Gyul didn’t let him finish.

“You said _date_. Dates were reserved to help you finish your play, now it’s done so we don’t really have to.”

There was a sharp, venomous twist in his words and Seungyoun felt attacked by it, not understanding when did their conversation turn like this.”

“I know but I want to,” he said softly. 

His voice cracked, wounded and hurt even to his own ears, and Hangyul must have sensed that too.  
There was an audible intake of air and Seungyoun could picture under his eyelids, Hangyul pinching the bridge of his nose, sighing.

“Hey Seungyoun, there’s really no need,” he replied, this time much softer.   
“I get it, you want to thank me. But I feel like we’ve hung out enough to last a lifetime this summer.”

Hangyul had that tone he used when he said things just to make people happy, even if he didn’t believe them.  
“You finished your homework and we successfully proved that I was right.”  
“What are you saying?” Seungyoun batted his eyes twice, feeling a familiar burn under his eyelids.  
“Well, you just said that the script is done and you managed to do it without falling for me and vice versa. Now we can go back to how it was before.”

There was something else, there had to be.   
Seungyoun refused to believe Hangyul, ignoring the way his heart hurt hearing him say those things.

But before he could speak Hangyul ended the call.  
“Look I gotta go now, see you at school.”

***  
They hadn’t written or called or seen each other _at all_ after that call.

It was a week after their bowling date and Seungyoun might have had fallen asleep with glossy eyes the night before, so the first thing he did in the morning was walking up to Hangyul's front door.

“Oh, it’s you hyung.”   
It was Dohyon that opened the door, still in his pj’s.   
For the first time since they knew each other, the younger didn’t seem very happy seeing him at his doorstep.

“Hey Do, can I come in?” He said raising the box he had in hand. “I have donuts.”

Dohyon moved forward a little, closing the door behind him and blocking Seungyoun completely.   
“Hyung isn’t here if that’s what you’re wondering.” His tone was protective and cautious, making Youn confused.   
“Oh, where can I find him then?” he asked with a smile. 

_Did Dohyon know things between them were strange?_

“It’s none of your business?” the reply seemed to indicate that _yes_ , Dohyon knew and whatever was the deal with Hangyul, it now affected his younger brother too.  
“Excuse me?” he said a little offended.

He could look over Hangyul’s moodiness and secretiveness, _but what was up with Dohyon?_

The boy looked flustered and distressed.   
“Sorry, hyung It’s just that…” Dohyon pressed his palms against his face.  
“Look Hangyul hyung is pretty slow at times, but I know him” he began to explain.   
“and I knew since pretty much forever that this was gonna happen. You’re like really important to him and not the way my friends are important to me, but like how mom is important to dad. He just didn't realise it.”

Seungyoun’s face became a relaxed blank paper, his brain was too busy reading between the lines of what Dohyon was saying to bother trying to twist his face’s muscles into some sort of expression.

_Was he implying Hangyul cared for him the way people cared for their lover? And if he did what did it have to do with Hangyul disappearing on him?_

“And even if hyung couldn't see it I could, that’s why I was rooting for Yohan hyung.” Dohyon’s explanation seemed to become more and more confusing, leaving Seungyoun in a dazed state.

“Because I knew you didn’t feel the same way. But at the lake, I thought that maybe I was wrong and maybe you did like him back.”

 _Like him back? Liking Hangyul back required one basilar concept. That Hangyul liked him._  
Seungyoun’s brain was screaming internally. _What the hell was Dohyon saying?_

“But maybe I was wrong about being wrong.” concluded the boy.   
“ _Dohyon_..” 

Seungyoun still wasn’t sure about what he had just heard, his brain too surprised with the turn of events to formulate a reply.

“Just, give him some space okay? Maybe he only realised it now, but his feelings probably run deeper than either of us know,” he said opening the door to the house.

“I get not loving him, but he’s still your friend, so do this one thing for him.”

And with that Dohyon went back inside, leaving Seungyoun on the street, petrified after what he just discovered.

***

Seungyoun stared at the ceiling of his room trying to wrap his mind around what Dohyon had told him in the morning. 

Hangyul _liked_ him.   
Not the friendly like or the platonically like.  
The real, romantically, like- _like_.

Had Seungyoun found out a week before, right when they got back from the lake, it wouldn’t have been surprising.   
He would have screamed and laughed and cried in happiness.  
Because even if he did hope and maybe even suspected it, nothing would have made him happier than hear confirmation of those feelings.

But _now_ … Hangyul had ignored him, dismissed his texts and avoided him for over a week.  
And Seungyoun had spent that time wondering if Hangyul had somehow started to hate him only to find out he actually liked him?

The whole situation left him awfully confused.

Moreover, even if by some sort of strange summer miracle, Dohyon was right and Hangyul did like like him.   
_Why was he upset? Why did he think Seungyoun didn’t feel the same way? Why was he suddenly distancing himself?_

Did he forget that it was Seungyoun that initiated the whole holding hands situation when they were watching ‘When Harry Met Sally’?

Seungyoun was trying to make sense of everything that was happening when his phone vibrated in his hand. 

_“WHAT THE FUCK DID I TELL YOU, CHO SEUNGYOUN”_

Seungyoun hadn’t bothered looking at the caller ID, before answering, but it didn’t take much to recognize Yohan’s voice.

“I told you to treat him right, remember?” he asked rhetorically with a deadly voice.  
“Yohan, hi-” he tried to say.  
“Don’t ‘hi’ me idiot, I know taekwondo.” Yohan sounded pissed and at least now Seungyoun had half an idea of the reason why.  
“Yohan-”

“And here I thought you were a good guy.” he sighed angrily.  
“Yohan-”  
“I thought you felt the same way,” he continued, ranting.  
“Yohan-”   
“You kept blushing and going all heart-eyes. Was it all an evil plan?”  
Seungyoun rolled his eyes. Trust him to be even more dramatic than Seungyoun, Hangyul and Dohyon put together.

“Or maybe it’s because of that play Hangyul told me about,” he said almost mockingly.  
“Were you acting huh? Was it just a part to help you write something believable?” all rhetorical questions again and before Seungyoun could utter a word he snapped.

“Well guess what, _jerk_?! It was super believable. So believable my friend is heartbroken over you, you dumbshit.” snarled Yohan.  
“And don’t just stay there in silence. Don’t you have something to say to defend yourself?” he screamed from the other side of the phone.   
“Will you let me?” sighed Youn, his voice annoyed yet somewhat pleading.  
“ _Fine_.”  
“I love him.” 

Seungyoun answered as genuinely and honestly as he could, feeling his chest getting lighter after saying those words out loud.

Yohan remained silent for a whole minute, so much that Seungyoun had to check if he was still online.

“Wait, what?” he replied after a while.

Seungyoun took a deep breath and bit his lip in thought.  
“I said I love him and I’ve been trying to talk to him for the past week to confess and ask him if he likes me back.”

Yohan chuckled incredulously.   
“Don’t joke with me, Seungyoun.”

Seungyoun groaned in frustration.

“I’m not, so now you know why I don’t really understand how come everyone treats me as if I broke his heart or something. I wasn’t even sure he liked me until Dohyon told me so this morning!”

“How were you not sure?” asked just as infuriated Yohan. “I. Told. You. And that guy literally spent the summer taking you out and looking at you like-”  
“Like I puke rainbows, fine I get it okay,” cut him off Seungyoun.  
“But he said that friends don’t fall for each other.” 

“Hangyul also says he’s cool and manly, but still can’t eat spicy ramen, how is his word remotely credible?”

“Okay, you have a point. It still doesn’t explain why won’t he talk to me,” he said rolling on his stomach Seungyoun, pouting.  
“I- I don’t know. He just showed up at the lake this morning.”

There was the sound of someone yelling in the background. 

“I’m still here managing the last few things before closing camp and Hangyul told me to keep him company and help him get over you before Sunday.”  
“Are you sure he didn’t mention anything else?” inquired Seungyoun, hoping to find hints on why Hangyul suddenly decided to turn his back on him.

“He said something about you always having to remind people that it’s all fake, that he thought that you holding his hand meant something but obviously he's a clown” Seungyoun wanted to groan again hearing that. 

Of course, it meant something. _Did Seungyoun look like the kind to casually hold hands with people?_

“- and that he would have rathered have you tell him yourself and not having to find out hearing you gossiping with Kookheon.”

Realisation hit him like a train.   
And his head and heart hurt as if he had truly gotten hit.  
 _“Fuck. fuck, fuck.”_

 _No wonder Hangyul hadn’t resurfaced from the restroom that night._  
  
“Did that help?”   
“Sort of, but _ugh_ ,” he replied, thankful that Yohan had called to curse the hell out of him.  
“I thought those kinds of things only happened in movies.”  
“What do you mean?” Yohan sounded lost, but for the first time in days, Seungyoun wasn’t.

“He didn’t hear all of it. If he did..” Seungyoun wondered how much easier it would have been if his idiot friend just stuck around long enough to hear Kookheon talking him into confessing his feelings.   
“Well if he eavesdropped longer than he’d know how I feel. _Stupid_.”  
“You mean him or you?” asked amused Yohan.

Seungyoun sighed, the pieces of the puzzle finally fitting.  
“Honestly both.”  
“So what are you gonna do now?”

Seungyoun stood up, resuming his pacing around his room.

“I--I’ll plan something out. Please make sure he doesn’t suddenly fall out of love with me kay?”


	7. Power couples, Presentations and Boyfriends

“Are you avoiding him?”   
Hangyul walked around the hallways next to the new power couple of the school.

“No,” he said not looking Wooseok in the eyes.   
The small guy scoffed in judgement.   
“Okay fine, maybe. Yes,” he admitted after a few meters.

“That’s fucking idiotic.” Wooseok didn’t bother muttering the statement and Jinhyuk pinched his sides in admonition.  
“ _Babe_!”  
“What?” exclaimed Wooseok in defense. “It is, Not to mention cowardly,” he said turning to Hangyul.

“Look, first thing first, you can’t avoid him forever.” he said stopping in his tracks to flick Hangyul on the forehead as Gyul whispered _‘I can try’._

“Second, maybe it’s a misunderstanding,” pressed the feline-like seventeen-year-old.   
“Minhee says Seungyoun was extremely happy all summer. The _‘in love’ kind of happy_ he called it.”

Hangyul shook his head and moved forward. “How are you even friends with Minhee?”

Wooseok followed him promptly and replied with a shrug.   
“He’s my legacy in this school, I don’t owe you further explanations. Back to the point. As I was saying, third:” He said waving three fingers in his face.  
“what if it’s true and Seungyoun doesn’t like you back? Are you really willing to say _bye-bye_ to your friendship with him, just like that?”

Hangyul stomped his foot childishly.

“Look it’s easy for you!” he said pointing at them accusingly.  
“You confessed to Jinhyuk and now you guys are dating. I confessed to Seungyoun and he turned me down!”

Jinhyuk shoved his hands in his pockets, smiling apologetically.  
“Technically you didn’t confess, you just listened in on a conversation.” corrected Wooseok.  
“A conversation in which he said we’re just friends! He clearly turned me down,” grumbled Hangyul.

Wooseok looked ready to fight him. “How is that the same Hangyul?!”

Jinhyuk wrapped an arm around his boyfriend’s waist, pulling him away from their friend with a chuckle.

“Wooseok is right,” he said looking at Hangyul.   
“I mean, whenever people asked me if I liked Seok I always said no, that it wasn’t possible. And 100% of the times I was lying.”

Hangyul stared at his feet. The truth was that as long as he didn’t confront Seungyoun, everything was still up in the air.   
Not a sure, certain and definite rejection.

“Look, just think about it, okay?” said Wooseok, this time a little kinder.  
“Personally I think you should apologize for going MIA out of nowhere, properly confess your feelings for him and if he turns you down, try your best to still be friends.”

Hangyul nodded, knowing his friends were right, but aware that it was easier said than done.  
“But if it’s really too much, at least don’t be a stranger. Feelings or not he’s still your best friend, right?”

Hangyul nodded again, sighing deeply and re-adjusting the straps of his backpack on his shoulders.

“Good, now let’s go. We gotta be in the auditorium in ten minutes for the club presentations.”

***

Hangyul dozed off for the majority of the presentations.  
Every year on the first week, clubs occupied the last hour of class to talk in front of the whole student body about their activities.   
It was mostly for freshmen and new students, but it wasn’t like anyone ever complained about cutting out a lesson a day for a week.

The basketball team was supposed to speak on Thursday, he suddenly remembered, and they were probably expecting him to say something as well.  
He sighed again.   
Usually, Seungyoun listened as he rehearsed his little monologue.  
  
His mind was suddenly brought to the assembly as he noticed the guy that was now talking.

“There are a thousand reasons why you should join our club,” he started moving around the stage like a stand-up comedian.   
“Many have been already listed. _Teamwork, finding people with the same passion as you, developing your writing and acting skills,_ We also happen to have the hottest teacher in school.”

Someone whistled loudly from the audience while Seungyoun pointed to Lee Dongwook, who was now waving bashfully.

“One of my favourite things about joining drama club is that more often than not you get thrown into scenarios that resemble real life. Things you go through everyday influence what you write or the way you act. And then, once you stage a play, you realise that the play is going to influence your life.”

Hangyul couldn’t help but feel a little mesmerized every time Seungyoun spoke so highly of his passions.   
There was such sincerity in what he said, this particular shimmering in his eyes that Hangyul could stare at all day.

“Opens your eyes on matters you were ignoring and teaches you things about yourself you didn’t know.”

Hangyul was sitting in the far back, but a part of him felt as if Seungyoun was looking straight at him.   
Their eyes locked across the room and for a second it was just the two of them, the rest of the students blurring into an indistinct, unimportant crowd.

“Take me for example. Up to this past June, I had never been in a relationship. I had no idea whatsoever what it was like to go on dates and feeling butterflies in my stomach.” 

Hangyul’s mind woke up and started ringing little bells in recognition. _What was Seungyoun planning to say?_

“For those who were here last year, you know what I’m referring to.  
Who of those present remembers last year's Valentine special?”

He said with a shameless grin.   
A few people raised their hands, a few teachers, Wooseok and Jinhyunk, Byungchan laughing hysterically and a few girls with pitying smiles.   
Even Seungyoun on stage raised his hand chuckling.

“For those who weren’t here, it _sucked epically._ ”

People laughed and Hangyul smiled at the innate ability Seungyoun had in entertaining people.

“So Mr. Lee Dongwook over there asked me to challenge myself over break,” he said faking a laboured breath.   
” _Write something romantic,_ he said.” cue fake gasp that made people chuckle.

 _“What you go through every day influences what you write”_ he repeated. 

“So what do you write it if you’ve never lived it?” he asked   
“Simple, research. For me, it turned out in finding the closest thing I had to romantic love - _platonic love_ \- my best friend, and go on dates with him trying to make-believe with what I had at hand.” 

If Hangyul only suspected Seungyoun could see him from up there, now he was certain.  
His eyes met his best friend’s and Youn gave him a small, but definitely honest smile.  
  
“First date.” he sighed.

“ _What you go through influences what you write._ He brought my mom flowers, won me a plushie and walked me up to the front door.   
I got home wrote a few lines, went to sleep. Like that for a few more dates, until suddenly: _boom_.” he stopped in the middle of the stage and looked straight at him.

 _“What you write influences your life,”_ he said.  
“One morning, I looked at what I was writing. Suddenly I wasn't trying to turn my friendship with my best friend into something it wasn't, I wasn't pretending anymore. I was writing what I truly felt. How I wanted things to go between us.”

Hangyul felt his breath catch in his throat, his mouth dry out and his heart speed up.

“Skip to the end, I fucked up big time,” he said resuming his stand-up comedy format.   
“Sorry Mrs. Jung didn’t mean to curse.” he winked at a teacher, making a few people chuckle.   
“I made a huge mistake and things blew up, but it doesn't matter right now. My point is,” he said gesturing to the big _‘Drama Club’_ poster behind him.

“I would have never understood my own feelings if it wasn’t for my drama club homework. I never would have looked inside myself quite as much if Mr. Lee hadn’t asked me to do something he knew I had no experience in.”

Hangyul looked over to Mr. Lee.   
The man, as good looking as always, turned to him in the exact same moment and nodded in greeting, with a small knowing smile.   
Hangyul felt himself blush, realizing that the man had read the fruit of all his dates with Seungyoun.

“Hold your horses, I’m not saying that you’re gonna fall in love if you join us.” clarified Seungyoun.  
“But I am saying that having to portray life on a script or on a stage will help you understand your life more. What you’ve been through and what you want to go through in the future.”

Hangyul shook his head, smiling. _Trust Seungyoun to turn a speech to convince newbies to join drama, into something philosophical._

“- I’m sorry, I don't really have a cool closing line.   
Just come and learn to fake it. You might just realize it’s all real.”

Seungyoun smiled and bowed as people started cheering and clapping.

Hangyul, on the other hand, stayed sitting still in his chair. 

Only after a few minutes, when another club was starting their presentation, did everything that Seungyoun said dawned on him.

_“ … the closest thing I had to romantic love, my best friend …”_

_“One morning, I looked at what I was writing. Suddenly I wasn't trying to turn my friendship with my best friend into something it wasn't, I wasn't pretending anymore. I was writing what I truly felt. How I wanted things to go between us.”_

_Did he meant it or was it just another fake situation?_  
Hangyul knew Seungyoun and knew when he was acting, especially when he was on a stage, yet he wasn’t sure if it was safe to hope. 

_If Seungyoun was honest up there, then how could he explain what he had heard him say to Kookheon?  
_ _Maybe it’s a misunderstanding._ Whispered a voice creepily close to Wooseok’s.

His heart danced a whole choreography in his chest, making it hard for him to suppress the urge to stand up before the end of the assembly to look for Seungyoun.

***

Hangyul didn’t have to search much after the crowd was dismissed.

Seungyoun was standing next to a few of his club-mates and Mr. Lee.  
The moment he saw Hangyul, he excused himself and walked up to him

Maybe it was the time and distance, but seeing him up close after weeks made Hangyul’s body tingle all over, his heart clenching and his arms aching to hold him.

“Hangyul.” started Seungyoun.   
His eyes were shining, his smile was small and collected and just a little hopeful.

“Seungyoun” he replied.   
There were so many things he meant to say that he didn’t know where to start.

“Did you hear my speech?” Seungyoun was always the best out of the two when it came to words.   
It was no surprise he was the one initiating the talk.   
Hangyul nodded, his smile getting wider.

“Did you mean it?” he said softly.

Seungyoun’s eyes shone as he batted his lids, the moisture accumulating at the edge of his eyes.   
He nodded fervently, his smile never fading.

Hangyul’s voice became even smaller at the sight, “I’m sorry I disappeared.”

Seungyoun shook his head taking a small step forward.   
“What no. I’m sorry for making you think I was just using you for the play,” he said, his hands reaching out to take Hangyul by the arms.  
Gyul chuckled, feeling his eyes getting as watery as Seungyoun’s   
“Well, technically I was the one who said it was all fake.”

Hangyul moved to take Seungyoun’s hands in his and they stayed there for a few seconds, just looking at their joint hands.

“So what now?” he asked, swaying their arms back and forth.

“Well, I guess…” Seungyoun looked up with apologetic eyes.   
“Yohan told me you heard me say to Kookheon that we’re still friends.”

Hangyul nodded in confirmation as Seungyoun explained.   
“I didn’t really mean that,” he said squeezing Hangyul’s hands.  
“I mean, we are still friends, only ... not just _friends_?” 

Hangyul smirked, finding the eagerness in Seungyoun’s voice adorable,  
“What are we then?”

“Best friends that are also boyfriends?” offered Youn tentatively.  
“If you’d like us to be of course,” he added expectantly.

Seungyoun turned his face down, to look at their hands once more.  
“I mean I sort of had the impression you’d like us to be, right?” 

“ _Seungyoun_.”

Hangyul freed one of his hands to tilt Seungyoun’s chin up and closed the distance between them.  
It was a featherlight kiss, their lips barely brushing.

Hangyul leaned back to see his boyfriend slowly open his eyes and grin. 

“Is that what you call a kiss, Lee Hangyul?” he murmured, smiling.  
“Shouldn’t you be the dating expert and I the awkward, inexperienced guy?” 

Before he could say anything, Seungyoun moved in closer for a second kiss.  
This time a proper one.

Just like his hands, and his tummy, Seungyoun’s lips were soft and rosy and Hangyul felt as if all the confusion he felt the past two months was finally clear.   
He deepened the kiss one last time, before breaking away.

“So... you like me?”   
Seungyoun’s smile made his eyes disappear and Hangyul couldn’t help but wish to be the reason for that exact expression every day.

“I like you,” he replied cupping Seungyoun’s face and giving him a small peck on the lips.  
“Like like me?” Asked Seungyoun a second time.  
Hangyul laughed and gave him a small peck again.   
“I think I love you, idiot.”

Seungyoun took a step back and raised an eyebrow teasingly.

“Even if I’m your best friend?”  
“ _Because_ you are my best friend,” admitted Hangyul rolling his eyes.

Seungyoun poked him on the sides. “You sure?” 

“Younie, ask me one more time and I’m breaking up with you.”

Hangyul started walking towards the exit of the auditorium with a smile on his face.

Seungyoun ran up to his side and took his hand.

“Okay, good,” he said leaning to whisper in Hangyul’s ear.   
“I love you too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello,  
> if you've arrived at this part, thank you for bearing with me and my self-claiming ass.   
> i hope you liked this prompt as much as i did writing it.   
> kudos and comments are always welcome and nothing, seungyul stays superior ;)  
> lets dominate 2020 seungyul nation!
> 
> love you and have a great year guys <3
> 
> ps. in case it wasn't clear by this fanfiction, i have no idea whatsoever of how drama-clubs or screen/play-writing works, im sorry hehe


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